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Consolidation And Fragmentation : The Future Of News Essay

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Consolidation & Fragmentation: The Future of News In today’s media-saturated world, traditional media outlets are still considered a very important source for news information, but many people look to outside, specialized media outlets for information that appeals to their personal interests and attitudes. However, there is an increasing concern that journalism is gearing away from factuality, and is instead incorporating opinions and gossip into the mix, as well as breaking news into bits and pieces. Additionally, consolidation among media corporations has affected the industry. Consolidation raises both benefits and concerns: increased diversity, larger conglomerate power, decreased viewpoints, etc. Not only do these rising trends reduce the credibility and diversity of news sources, but they have the potential to flood the media market with low-quality news. Overall, these two trends can be seen in today’s market, and have an enormous effect on the landscape of the journalistic environment. Digital fragmentation By itself, fragmentation is the act of fragmenting, or a breaking down a part/piece of something. In this case, digital fragmentation refers to the increasing power of anyone to publish, edit, and republish news, while potentially adding gossip, non-checked information and opinions into the mix. Additionally, companies are tailoring their news to appeal to a market’s specific interests. With the widespread availability of low-quality “news”, many journalistic

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