More and more people no longer read newspapers or watch TV programs to get news. They get news about the world through the Internet. Is this a positive or negative development? 2021.2.19

Supplanting traditional news platforms, the internet has become the primary source for information for most people. Though some news online might be misleading and unreliable, I still believe that the rising popularity of the internet as a source of news is positive overall.

It is true that online reports tend to have sensational headlines and even distorted facts to appear more eye-catching, which often mislead readers and give rise to misconceptions about the world. More often than not viewers have to spend extra time and energy to ascertain the authenticity of the news. In addition, easy access to the internet means that ordinary internet users, whether they have a professional journalistic background or not, can post news online. Such news might be unverified, far from reliable and truthful, and nothing more than sheer fabrication. Compared with traditional newspapers and TV programs that are under constant and strict censorship, fabricated news may cause confusion or even chaos to readers.

However, we should notice that the internet has the overwhelming advantage in accelerating the circulation of news. For example, when COVID-19 broke out, up-to-date news about the pandemic need to be disseminated to the public as soon as possible, and online media possess incomparable advantages over traditional media since a large population can be reached almost instantly through their smart phones. In such emergent cases, speed matters because it allows people to avoid unnecessary losses. Another advantage of online media over newspaper or TV programs is its convenience. People can get the latest news via modern media such as mobile phones or websites anywhere at any time. They no longer need to wait for news programs and go to the newsstands to grab a piece of newspaper. Easy access to the latest news is made possible by the proliferation of cybermedia.

In conclusion, I believe that it is an irresistible trend for people in contemporary society to acquire the latest news from the internet. However, we need to keep the caveats in mind. The government should strengthen supervision and impose strict censorship on the content of news online. At the same time, internet usersnetizens should evaluate the trustworthiness of the source before fully accepting the reports.