How Social Media Changed the Media: A Perspective From Someone Who Spent Two Decades on the Inside.

For many of you who have watched and followed me for a while, you know that I don’t really like to give my opinion on big things publicly, especially the news. I believe in old school journalism, where the facts are reported, and it is up to the viewers to decide their thoughts. 

You will see a different side of me right now. No, I will not be giving my opinion on politics or anything like that. I want to talk about the media, because these thoughts have been weighing on me for some time now. Everything in this piece is not reflective of every place I have worked. As someone who spent nearly 20 years in the industry through the evolution of social media, these are just my thoughts about the media and its relationship with social media in 2024. 

Jillian Mele

I have talked about this on my podcast “Credentialed with Jillian Mele,” and I tell clients that I media train the same thing: the media is different than it used to be, which is not a secret. But these days everyone is adapting to a new media world and figuring out what is right for them. If you are a viewer, you have many choices where you get your news, and I don’t mean which channel. I mean, do you turn on the TV for it? Open X? Listen to a podcast? Go to YouTube? Maybe even TikTok? 

I started writing this blog a while ago and decided to get my thoughts out now, as I think it is an important time for the conversation. Traditional media, in my opinion, has changed forever. In a new Wall Street Journal article titled “Trump’s Win Cemented It: New Media Is Leaving the Old Guard Behind,” the discussion is heavily centered around the influence of podcasts and TikTok and how they made a statement in the 2024 Presidential Election. We saw the candidates lean into various podcasts and other platforms for interviews, and the truth is: the reach can go beyond that of traditional media. It’s just how it is in today’s world. According to Nielsen, an estimated 42.3 million viewers watched coverage of the 2024 U.S. presidential election across 18 TV networks. On the surface, those are not small numbers. People still watch the news, especially when there are big things going on. However, they are VERY small numbers compared to what they used to be. Nielsen says the 2020 election drew in 56.9 million viewers in prime time. Viewership in 2024 was down over 25%. And in 2016, an estimated 71 million people tuned in to watch coverage during primetime, which is a roughly 40% decrease in viewership from 2016-2024 election night coverage. 

So, to reiterate: 2016: 71 million viewers. 2020: 56.9 million viewers. 2024: 42.3 million viewers. 

If that doesn’t tell a story, I don’t know what does. 

In this blog, I want to focus on social media as a whole, because if it were not for social media, I don’t think podcasts would have the reach and popularity that they do. But let’s start by rewinding. 

What it used to be: 

In 2004, a lot of things were different.

Facebook was new to a limited selection of people, Myspace was new (I wish I could remember the song on my page), Twitter was not yet around, and Instagram was unheard of. 20 years ago, news and social media had a very different relationship, if even one at all.

I was a junior in college with my first internship in broadcasting: Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. I grew up loving sports, so this internship was like a dream come true. In fact, I loved it so much that I went back for a second internship. At that point, I was hooked. During this time, those big news vans needed a huge mast for reporters to go live. Some stations didn’t even have live trucks! I didn’t have them in either of my first 2 job markets: Presque Isle, Maine, and Binghamton, NY. I did my first live report at my 3rd job after college in my hometown of Philadelphia. Nowadays, we can ALL go live with the click of a button on our phones. Think about that. 

These were the days when, in local media anyway, we had appointment viewing for the news. It came on at certain times of the day, and if you wanted to watch it you would tune in at that time. Those days have been long gone for a long time. We have been in the 24/7 news cycle for a while, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

What happened when the two merged:

Social media changed how news spreads, how it is delivered, and, quite honestly, how it is expected from the viewers. It also changed the accuracy, the immediacy, and the pressure to be the first to get information on air and online. 

Over my career in broadcast journalism, I covered both local and national news, as well as sports. I have seen firsthand how the need for immediacy of information has weakened trust in actual journalism. I have seen firsthand how anchors and reporters trust their “sources” and put information out there quickly, only to have it be wrong. Not necessarily because of something they did wrong, but sometimes because information was given prematurely. When videos and photos are blasted on social media without the proper vetting of information and facts, it adds to the pressure to try to get that information and give it to the viewers on air, because you know that people are already seeing it online. No one wants to be last; I get it. But we should want to be right, first. And truthfully, most media outlets DO want to be right. They work their tails off to be accurate. So, I am not necessarily placing blame on them. The photos and videos posted on social media also give more access and information than we ever had, so I also do not necessarily blame social media. And the journalists I know work at rapid speed to deliver factual information, so I do not blame them. Honestly, I don’t know where to place blame, and so maybe this isn’t even about blame at all. 

Maybe this is just the reality that the journalistic world I started in simply doesn’t exist in the same capacity. I don’t want to be misunderstood; this is not a hit piece on the media. I wholeheartedly believe there is a need for journalism, and I know that it exists. But I also know that the endless opinions thrown around in the media about issues that impact all of us greatly blurs the line, at least for me. I know that in many cases in local news, having to chase the latest crime and breaking news happening just to be live for the start of the show takes precedence over a lot of things. I once had to fight for weeks to do a story about a local soldier volunteering overseas in a war. That story and that moment stands out to me because I shouldn’t have had to fight to do that story. Sadly, that is just one example of many. 

On an average day, locally, crime outweighs most other things, and nationally, politics typically outweighs everything else. Countless times throughout my career, I have asked to cover great stories and was told no because they didn’t involve the “news of the day” (which was politics or crime) or they involved people that didn’t have the message or opinion that the particular station, show, or person making the decision wanted to broadcast. I am sad that great stories are at times passed up because they don’t fit a narrative, aren’t juicy enough, or, in certain cases, because some people making the decisions don’t see outside of a small lens.

I think the constant information, photos, and videos posted to social media play a role in this. If someone has it posted to social media, and it involves a story being covered or has gone viral, stations want it on their news. They don’t want to be the only ones without it. Sometimes views, likes, comments, and shares of content online play a role in stations determining if something is worthy of airtime. Sometimes reporters are sent on wild goose chases to cover a story simply because it went viral online. In many instances, the media is chasing what has already broken online. When you are in a cycle of constantly chasing, I think it is hard to see the bigger picture of what really matters. And I think when you are in that mode of tunnel vision, it is hard to remember that journalism is a service to the community and the country. It is about more than chasing the latest viral clip. But the latest viral clip will get clicks and shares. The latest political event or opinion will get people fired up. Reaction also, at times, has a role in determining what news is covered. Reminder: these are not blanket statements and are not true of every channel or station. But these problems do exist. 

As I mentioned earlier, I am not here to bash the media. As someone who is part of the only generation of journalists to live through this transformation of the media and the online world as it evolved, I feel a calling to inform and educate. I sat on releasing this blog for a bit because I wanted to really think it through, do research, and come to the table with insight and a well-thought-out conversation. Unlike many people today who continuously blast opinions at anyone listening, I wanted to take a thoughtful approach. 

The thing is, as times change and new technologies are developed, we all have to learn to keep up, and that includes how the media delivers news and how the consumers receive it. I think many media outlets are still trying to figure out how to keep up with journalism, social media, streaming services, podcasts, what content to put where, how to dedicate resources, and the list goes on. Many years ago, I worked for a station that would hold meetings and show the follower count of each on-air journalist's social media accounts, with the implied message that those who were on the lower end had to do better. These days, some people are hired for jobs in journalism because they have a large online following, regardless of their journalistic background. The media, and social media, are intertwined at every corner. 

And now that podcasts are bigger than ever and having an impact on things like Presidential Elections as candidates embrace them, I think it is time to decide a few things. 1: If you are a consumer of news and information, who do you trust to get your information from? 2: The question for me personally is what impact do I want to make with my voice? This is something I have spent a lot of time thinking about because there is a lot of noise out there. There is a lot of one-sided information and a lot of opinion. I don’t want to be another person spewing hateful venom at people whose opinions I do not agree with; there is enough of that already. I want to inspire, inform, motivate, and empower people. 

To me anyway, it is almost an unrecognizable world from when I got into the media in 2004. But there is also good that has come out of social media influencing the media. 

Opportunities for everyone to be seen:

As a new entrepreneur with my own business, I can appreciate that when someone works so hard for their business, and a post on social media takes off and goes viral, it has the opportunity to change that person’s life overnight. I love social media stories about people helping people; someone in the news catches wind of it, and it makes it on TV. I love that a company has the potential to create a digital footprint for its CEO, and if someone in the media sees a video or clip that was posted online, suddenly they might have their new subject matter expert to use in a segment, and suddenly that CEO and company has more exposure. I love that social media creates more opportunities than ever for people to have a chance at being seen. And that is why I always tell companies and business owners to take advantage of the possibilities. You can be proactive with your digital footprint and give yourself opportunities to get your name and brand out there. These days, the news isn’t the only place to reach an audience. There are so many podcasts, streaming shows, and YouTube channels, some of which far outweigh the viewership of newscasts. I look at it this way: if you are not telling the world what you are doing and who you are, you are missing a huge opportunity for growth. Podcasts are a massive area of opportunity for anyone to get their story out! I know that the podcast circuit is so saturated; I get it, but that’s because there is a want for it. People can choose the content of their liking and listen on their time. 

Where do we go from here?

In this world of immediacy, I just wish there was a way for patience and the media to co-exist again in a deeper way. Patience and understanding that to do it right, and to get it right, it requires some time. And for the viewers to understand that if they want the right information, they need to give it some time for real journalism to work its magic. I know that we want everything immediately, because in many aspects of life, we get that. Deliveries of literally anything to our house sometimes overnight or even that day. But when it comes to our media and getting things right, I hope we can all remember that it is more important to be accurate first. In this oversaturated world of voices, I hope people will remember that responsibility with information matters. 

The media of 2004 is surely gone, but to me, the media of 2024 is still in transition. I think there will always be a place for national news, but will there be a place for local news on your TV screen as time goes on? Or will online platforms continue to grow and dominate so much that what was once a fabric of our communities is simply gone from the airwaves? If the 2024 election is any indication of what is to come, watch out world.

As we say in the news business, stay tuned.

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Citations:

I. Simonetti, A. Steele, Trump’s win cemented it: New media is leaving the old ..., Wall Street  Journal. (2014). https://www.wsj.com/business/media/new-media-social-media-presidential-election-591b0644. 

Media Advisory: 2020 election coverage draws 56.9 million viewers during prime, Nielsen. (2022). https://www.nielsen.com/news-center/2020/media-advisory-2020-election-draws-56-9-million-viewers-during-prime/ 

71 million viewers tuned in to 2016 election coverage during prime, Nielsen. (2022). https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2016/71-million-viewers-tuned-in-to-2016-election-coverage-during-primetime/ 

Over 42 million viewers tune in to watch 2024 presidential election coverage, Nielsen. (2024). https://www.nielsen.com/news-center/2024/over-42-million-viewers-tune-in-to-watch-2024-presidential-election-coverage/  

News platform fact sheet, Pew Research Center. (2024). https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/news-platform-fact-sheet/#:~:text=News%20consumption%20across%20platforms,-A%20large%20majority&text=This%20is%20more%20than%20the,who%20get%20news%20from%20television