III. How new media affect what journalists do
With the Internet and cable television, anyone with a computer or television has access to more information sources than ever before. In some respects, this surfeit of information makes it easier for journalists to do their jobs; the Internet in particular is a valuable research resource. 1 However, the proliferation of news sources also means more competition for each news organization, an unrelenting demand for news on a more frequent schedule, and changing standards in journalism. The news media have more space to tell their stories than they have had in the past, yet this supposed advantage often is lost by an increased focus on minute developments in a single story. Also, many news providers rely on the same wire services to provide the bulk of their news, paradoxically decreasing the amount of choice. These effects will be examined in this section.