That degrading look people get when I tell them I am a journalism major... I know it like the back of my hand. It's discouraging and unnecessary and I'm so used to seeing it because there are few people that have actually been encouraging when I tell them my major and my dream. The people that give me this look clearly do not know what options there are in the journalism field or they just don't know what they are talking about because even though I may not know how to solve a ridiculous calculus problem, I'm still an intelligent person who DOES have the ability to get a job within my major.

“Why go into journalism, isn’t that a failing industry?” I hear that all the time from many people who obviously have no idea that journalism is not failing, if anything it is growing. When people think of journalism, most people immediately think of print journalism. However, technology is growing, which means so is journalism.

Journalism is one of those things that many people do not realize how much it impacts their lives, but without it, everyone would notice. Of course, we still need journalism, it is just a matter of how it is presented. With smartphones, smart televisions, computers, and news apps, it is almost impossible to escape the world of journalism! The news is right in front of our faces, yet people still question the demand for journalism. According to The Guardian.com, “News is propelled by people, all of whom belong to one culture or another.”

So, with that being said, isn’t journalism propelled by people as well? Due to the fact that the news can be updated faster than it ever has before, there is the argument that technology compromises journalism and the credibility of the news. While the quality of journalism may be affected by the speed in which we receive the news, technology, and the internet have an adaptability that can do nothing but improve journalism. That being said, journalism can survive on the free web with no trouble at all. The web and technology are what is making journalism thrive, so whether or not journalism can survive on a free web is not a question.

Journalism is a thriving industry without incorporating the readers into it. However, when you add the readers to the question about the future of journalism, that adds an entirely new argument. Journalism is not simply just the stories that are talked about on television or the articles on the web. The journalism world also has to appeal to the readers. In fact, the readers are one of the biggest parts of journalism. Without the readers, there would be no popularity among the news, which brings us back to the point of journalism being propelled by the people.

The headline stories are not headlines because they did not appeal to the people. That is what journalism is all about: appealing to the people and balancing the truth at the same time. Advancing technology grants us access to the news at any time, at lightning speed, but it also gives the people a voice. The audience is not just the audience, they also have voices and with the help of technology and controversial news topics, there is only one word appropriate to use to describe the journalism industry and that is “growing."