ONLINE JOURNALISM IS LESS CREDIBLE AS COMPARED TO MAINSTREAM MEDIA

            Credibility of online has been question by public lately whether the sources are credible or too much information. Some of the news has been manipulated and spun to fulfill certain agenda. According to Swope (1882), the first duty of a newspaper is to be accurate. If it follows that it is fair. But the online media is aimed to put the mainstream media to shame.

            Online media contain too much information that lead to overload. The information was not exactly telling the truth. It is all rooted back to the human behavior. There are standard of journalism are being ignored. One of the controversial issues is media bias, especially on political issues. However people keep on accepting the untruth as truth. In addition, most people neither have time to verify its accuracy nor go back to the same site because the browser may fail to find it again.

            The credibility on online journalism also affected because of the source of information. Somehow, the source of information also cannot be trusted. This is because; the information is taken from wrong people who have zero knowledge about certain issue. Some of them give information because of money. When the source of the information itself is not valuable, same goes to the information on online journalism. They are not being fair on giving information.

            The immediacy of online can affect the information because the write is human being and they makes mistake. According to Lynch (2009) online users want information right away after the incident happens – and that means deadlines around the clock. Some editors say that's simply what wire services have been doing for years. Others argue that the pressure to publish has never been greater – and with that comes new questions about accuracy, credibility and balance.         

            Other than that, the credibility of online journalism also becomes less credible when plagiarism takes place. With only by clicking the mouse, they can copy image and information and claim it that it is theirs. The culture of the online is based on openness and sharing and the culture of newsroom is despised copying of any kind. Besides that, linking, cookies (online tracking devices) and advertising relationships are among the most pressing ethical issues confronting online journalists. But they are far from the only situations raising new questions.

            Moreover, some news on online journalism is manipulated and in some cases people trying to break peoples down and put them in risk. This is directly shows that people nowadays don’t really care about others and people lose their humanity for a good story. This kind of story may affect the victim’s life and also the family. Some people lose their job because of this. This also shows that technology indirectly affects people life in negative way.

            As for the conclusion, it is true that online journalism is less credible compared to mainstream media. For those who prefer to get an information from online media should seek for more detail and prove before publish anything. This is where research is important.