The Work of a Communications Professionals 

         With the changes in technology and the communications process, communications professionals must be able to adapt. Gone are the days of getting information from a source, spending the day typing it up and taking it to an editor for review. With the speed of communications and the vast number of people that can see the information, the role has definitely changed. The video below outlines the way which technology has changed the work for communications professionals.

Lee, E. (Director). (2014). Internet, Technology Offer New Tools for Journalists [Motion picture]. n/a: n/a.

         With the increased demand on Journalists to be able to learn and use traditional and new media, it is important to develop the skills needed to do so. Being versed in social media and internet technology is no longer a luxury but has become a necessity to stay relevant in the field.

J-school grads need many skills. (2014, June 4). RTDNA :. Retrieved October 19, 2014, from http://www.rtdna.org/article/j_school_grads_ 

        For communications professionals, it can be seen that digital skills are viewed as extremely important to being effective. 

Technology and Communications

      With changes in technology, the way we share information has changed as well. In the modern technological era, everyone has the ability to act as a communications professional. There are a number of ways which users can now create content and publish to the world. In the previous era, there were clearly defined roles as either a producer or consumer of information. With new media, these roles have blurred. 

                 

 MacDougall, R. (2010, March 6). The Online Notebook. The Online Notebook. Retrieved October 19, 2014, from http://ijpenado.wordpress.com/tag/online-journalism/

          The above image shows the difference between the how communication of news and information was distributed previously and how technology has somewhat flipped the roles. Although both times of information sharing occur, the trend is toward the intercast model.

          In the modern communications format, social media plays a huge role. The ability to post information and share news with others is extremely accessible because of social media. With the ease of publishing and retrieving information, social media has become an attractive alternative to traditional media.

Hunt, J. (n.d.). Will social media eventually replace the news?. Giraffe Social Media. Retrieved October 19, 2014, from http://giraffesocialmedia.co.uk/will-social-media-eventually-replace-the-news/

The Evolution of Communications

Technology has changed almost every part of our daily lives and none may be more affected than the way we communicate. With the advent of modern technology a great majority of the worlds population is connected. The local communities which exist throughout the world have joined together to create one global community. The video below is a great visual to show how technology has evolved drastically over the years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o35ruCZ6S4

With this increase in technology, the spread of information has gone from a standardized chain of command, to complete chaos.With multiple inputs and outlets, information is shared in a community as opposed to on a more individualized basis.

http://flowtv.org/2012/02/television-studies-new-media/

As a communications professional, it is imperative to be able to utilize the benefits of technology, while also recognizing and adapting to challenges created by it. The purpose of this blog is to show how these changes in Technology have changed the the work of a communications professional and what new skills need to be maintained/gained to be successful in the technological era.

Fischer, M. (Director). (2011). How New Technology Changes the Way We Communicate [Documentary]. n/a: n/a.

Turner, G. (2012, February 13). Television studies, new media, and the divided curriculum Graeme Turner / University of Queensland | Flow. Flow RSS. Retrieved October 19, 2014, from http://flowtv.org/2012/02/television-studies-new-media/