Abundance of Information

The Internet has exponentially increased the complexity and abundance of information available. Data mining sites ensure that no information is lost in cyberspace, furthering this notion. Almost every communication medium has expanded the range of information, but the web developed a truly unprecedented scale. “One third of the world’s 6 billion population is connected to the Internet. One inhabitant in every seven on the planet is on Facebook. Hundreds of millions of blogs are live. And an hour of video footage is uploaded to YouTube every second” (108). While Brock does effectively argue journalism has a future in the digital age, it may not be as promising as he predicts. The scale of information alone constitutes much more data and happenings than journalists have ever encountered before. News reporting outlets likely don’t have the manpower to cover every event effectively and holistically, so many events will go unnoticed. The growth of the Internet is not remotely matched by the speed of reporting so journalists will remain at an inherent disadvantage in today’s digital age. As forcefully as Brock argues that there are ways for journalism to adapt and survive, this may only be possible in the short-term. The inevitable disadvantage that journalism faces in attempting to report all of the information available poses the risk of becoming a dying industry and profession.