Revisiting Professionalism in the Era of Curation Journalism and Networked Communications

摘要

Curation journalism is one of the phenomena of contemporary media practice that relates to the public participation. It occurred when the media audiences gained their chance to be more active in finding information and distributing their own news within the existence of social media. The development was so massive and inevitable, which eventually forced the media to embrace it by curating the scattered social media contents and make them as their news' materials. In some ways, the media seem to lose their authority by letting unprofessional audiences to be their field reporters. The condition then raised the question about the professionalism of journalists. This article discusses a study on the adjustment of journalistic professionalism to cope the development of the public participation. By applying descriptive qualitative method, this study revisited the existing theories of professionalism and compared it with the current condition of media practices. The primary objective was to discuss the new concept of journalistic professionalism within the more active society. Based on the analysis, the study finds that some significant arrangements need to be implemented, such as revising the journalistic code of conducts and adjusting the role of the journalist as the gatekeeper to clarify its position as professional in the age of contemporary media.