That’s right, Facebook is in the process of developing something called Instant Articles. A new online program directly linked with Facebook that allows publishers to instantly share their articles to their readers.
Claiming to be designed with publishers of all size, all over the world, this could potentially be the next revolution in news.
The Future is Mobile
Facebook has designed Instant Articles directly for the mobile phone users, who previously had trouble getting news on Facebook due to loading times, poor connectivity, etc..
Statistical research is consistently showing that more and more people are turning to social media websites like Facebook and Twitter to get their news.
And Facebook seems to be taking the hint. Ever since Facebook launched the Instant Articles trial period and developed their Trending Topics sidebar it seems that more websites are following suite.
With Facebook and Twitter taking over how the masses get their media, it makes sense that journalists are hopping on the bandwagon and joining these websites that gross so many views
But Who Will Choose the News?
Facebook boasts about how Instant Articles will be open to any and all publishers, but what does that mean? Who will these any publishers be? And who will be controlling the news that they are releasing?
Even though mobile instantaneous news is the growing trend, the news publishing processes that exist in the “older” news rooms have been established for important reasons. To ensure that the news being produced is ethical, accurate, transparent and ideally objective. If everything via Instant Articles is independently uploaded and published to a massive audience, who will then be filtering, vetting, and verifying the news that is being published?
It’s important as journalists to take advantage of the new technology that is being presented to us, but it is equally crucial that we do not sacrifice the integrity of the news that we gather.
Sunshine Chronicles 