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4GJ: Fourth Generation Journalism

There are different ways to define mass media’s generations – one is by technology. The first generation came with the advent of the printing press. Media’s second and third generations were defined by the eras of radio and then television, dramatically increasing media’s reach. Today, the internet and billions of mobile devices define the fourth generation and make media truly global for the first time. Media’s audience - the public - is now the world, and that reality brings new responsibilities and opportunities.

But there is another way of looking at the four generations – a societal definition. The first generation was embodied by the emergence of pamphleteering. Activists shared their views with their community in an effort to effect social change. During the second generation media’s reach and impact grew. Wealthy individuals purchased newspapers, recognizing media as a tool capable of furthering their own social and political agendas. The third generation of media is marked by its amazing capacity for profit. Corporations bought local and regional media companies and have become massive media enterprises. These corporations’ loyalty is primarily, and understandably, to their shareholders and growing profits.

There is another aspect of the media’s development that is critical to grasp. Media came of age during the heyday of the nation-state. A 17th century construct, the nation-state was designed primarily to protect the sovereignty of its citizens and for centuries the world has built its structures and interactions around the belief that our governments would resolve crises by interacting with each other – in peace or in war. Coming of age in that era media naturally developed a default perspective of representing events through a local or national prism. That approach was perfectly appropriate for many years.

But that era has passed.

Transforming The Media

Media is changing, too. But its future is still unclear. We are entering a new era of media -- the Fourth Generation of Journalism -- and we should take advantage of this period of dramatic change to consider what media can become. Media’s societal role in this fourth generation of journalism is not yet defined.

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