Reflections 01 - Tam Wai Hang

1) Based on your understanding of facts and opinions, why do you think this is important to reporters/ journalists in the world of online journalism?
The online network can allow a faster update of the news for the public society, as the internet is a broader platform that users can access worldwide, unlike newspapers and television programmes which are normally only available to a certain country. The internet, as it is accessed by many people, grants the advertisers to be able to gain a better profit than publishing their advertisements on the newspapers. The internet's information can be changed much more quickly to update people, but this is both an advantage and disadvantage. One disadvantage will be that because the information can be edited easily, the users can easily add misleading information, even though it might be on purpose. This can lead the users into obtaining the invalid information. So the reporters and journalists should be careful to post valid information even though they can do it with immediacy. 


2) How could the limitations explored in one of the articles be controlled? 
The limitations, such as ethical issues, can be controlled by being monitored and the internet users warned of the sites they are accessing. The academics also suggests having a code of ethics in the internet. This can help to ensure that the internet users do not distribute information that are unethical and will not cause confusion and misinformation to the users.


3) What are some responsibilities of discerning readers?
They must ensure that the information they distributed to the internet are valid and contain only the truth. This can help to avoid any confusion within the internet users which can cause misinformation by reading the incorrect articles. The users should also know the consequences of putting false information on the internet, for example they may be fined for doing that.