New Media Qualities, Multi-modality; New Forms of Journalism

As I mentioned in my earlier posting regarding the new form of media publishing, as technology constantly evolving, it becomes very popular that it can spread the news effectively globally. In the article 'How Social Media, Internet Changed Experience of Japan Disaster', Benkoil (2011) shows the comparison of news dimension of Japan disaster that had just happened with the past earthquake in year 1995 based on his experiences. He stated that there is more devices and platforms that deliver information rapidly withing seconds due to the wireless network today.

People who are concerning about the disaster can also watch the news from TV such as CNN, BBC etc. Furthermore, social networking like Facebook, Twitters are widely use during the disaster to update the first hand information. Almost 200 millions tweets per day that updated the messages of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan that happened on March 2011 as I mention in my previous posting. Moreover, there are more detailed and truthful data, pictures or videos from satellite delivers clearer messages and information in nowadays. The videos were posted up on Youtube (Japan Tsunami 2011) just right after the tragedy happened.

(Breaking News about wave washes away cars and boats after quake in Japan on TV,
Source: Hudson Horizons, 2011)

Additional information : Just hover over the satellite photos, we can see the differences before and after Tsunami in Japan 2011 on ABC news and The New York Times. 

It is proven that social media is the best way for people around the world stay connect with each other quicker. The information spread rapidly allows us to respond quicker in multi-modal ways. People around the world can become aware of the tragedy happened through social media. In my opinion, there are pros and cons in delivering or receiving messages through social media. It has made our life easier but sometimes we get rumor that can mislead or misrepresent easily. 

Reference

Benkoil, D 2011, ‘How Social Media, Internet changed Experience of Japan Disaster’, Mediashift, viewed 6 June 2011, <http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2011/03/how-social-media-internet-changed-experience-of-japan-disaster-074.html>