With a background in journalism, I have often gazed upon my computer in awe, wondering how difficult it must have been for a journalist back in ‘the old days’ to produce quality, accurate content on schedule.
In today’s world, everything is at our fingertips. There’s nothing that Google can’t find for us. Across a broad range of topics, we can collect facts and figures to piece stories together with the shortest turnaround times in history. 150 years ago, a horse, cart and a hell of a wait would surely have been in order.
However, I am sceptical. This morning I received notice from the TTR World Snowboard Tour that a database has been set up, listing every result from every major competition for every snowboarder since 1988. Wow, what an invaluable tool for ski and snowboard journos all over the world. Just in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics too!
But how many people worked on putting this database together? And where did they get their information from? Are all the scores accurate? And if not, does this mean that all aspiring journos who refer to this database will now be getting it all wrong?
Thinking about ‘the old days’, I am beginning to think that sources of information must have been more accurate compared to now. I base this on the idea that writers would have worked harder to find the right people for the facts they needed. Pity about the lapse in time it took to send and receive information, however.
Today, having information so easily accessible means that not only is journalism incredibly increasingly competitive, but content tends to be ‘piggy-backed’ from other online sources in place of primary research (…er hem, Wikipedia!).
This bothers me as it can result in poor and inaccurate information. So unless someone can show me that they have the primary research to back it up, as the saying goes, “Don’t believe everything you read.”
Nonetheless, such unfortunate trends in modern-day Chinese Whispers do offer a silver lining; journos who can’t get the most reliable and up-to-date information, in the shortest amount of time, will eventually be weeded out. Or be consigned to a gossip column.
I’m not 100 per cent sure, but I would think that the TTR World Snowboard Tour had well-informed veterans of the snowboard industry compiling that database. But if there’s one thing I know, it’s that I’ll be sticking to what I know when it comes to producing content, and for credibility’s sake in this information-overloaded age, I hope that all other writers and journalists will be doing the same too.
Our Guest contributor Natalie Khoo, is a Freelance Writer and Editor based in Melbourne. Starting her professional career in London at Cosmopolitan Magazine, Natalie has since returned to Australia where she has played the role of editor and contributor to a number of magazines and websites. Natalie also has extensive marketing and advertising skills from being appointed Advertising Manager of Pepper Publishing, which she has combined with her writing skills to become the accomplished business copywriter she is today.
To find out more information, visit www.nataliekhoo.com.au. You can email Natalie at: natalie@nataliekhoo.com.au, or call her on
