Journalism at a glance

The reason for the emergence of this journalistic movement is the emergence of the latest developments in technology and in the media . The news format used for the production and distribution of news has undergone changes precisely after the release of the Apple Watch in 2014, in connection with which the distribution and absorption of news has fundamentally changed. The most noticeable and significant feature of these mini-devices is a sharp reduction in screen size, which marked the beginning of a new “ glance flow” in digital journalism. Short news headlines that convey the main meaning and main information for the user came to replace long, difficult to read and read texts. This term was originally mentioned by journalist Dan Shannoff , creator of the Quickish news portal. In an article entitled "Wearables could make the“ glance ”a new subatomic unit of news" ^{[1], the} author states that today the user wants the information to be concise, accessible and not take too much time.

"Now the audience prefers an accelerated life format. This cannot be solved only with the help of adaptive design; initially, an original approach is needed for this."

Original text

“The audience wants to go faster. This can't be solved with responsive design; it demands an original approach, certainly at the start. ”

Dan Shannoff believes that it was the first presentation of the Apple Watch in 2014 that marked the beginning of a new era in digital journalism. Journalism at a glance is a new way to quickly consume news. Compared to the classic newsletter, articles and blogs, this kind of “short news” used in “glance journalism” helps a person to better concentrate his attention and does not force him to spend extra time flipping through a news feed. A number of professors of the faculty of public relations of the University of Santiago de Compostela also consider factors of this trend in their scientific work. ^[2] They claim that with the advent of Apple Watch, society is returning to mobile journalism and increasingly prefers to receive information based on short headlines, alerts, or informative notifications. Consequently, wearable gadgets can become the main reason for the development of new trends in micro-journalism. A 2016 Reuters study confirms that the use of news alerts has doubled thanks to the emergence of wearable gadgets such as smart watches , which could accelerate this trend in the future. ^[3]

Such a trend as “Journalism at a glance” has long been used by various online publications in order to accelerate the time users consume new content. One of the first is The New York Times . The innovation is described in an article by Linda Zebian, Executive Director of Corporate Communications at The New York Times . ^[4] She notes that the online publication has developed a new type of information transfer that the reader can absorb in a matter of seconds, using only the Apple Watch screen. The news series is divided into several topics that are most relevant to the user, including such sections as: business, politics, science, technology and art. In addition to web applications , “smart news” is also broadcast around the clock on smart watches. In addition to The New York Times , Apple Watch- adapted mobile apps have also been created by CNN , US National Public Radio and The Guardian .

“Technology manufacturers have inflated the significance of this new device and a new type of digital journalism in order to attract the attention of users with the catchy slogan:“ Less is more ”( ⁵⁾ . Those who support this new trend claim that only a news headline on a small screen is enough to get information. Other positive features of “journalism at a glance”, according to supporters, are free access to information from any location, continuous absorption of news, the ability to read from a small screen, receive notifications, the ability to change font color and size and zoom options. However, on the other hand, the technology of “smartwatch” as a new news distributor is critically evaluated in recent studies related to the deformation of the news text, ”says Bilge Narin, Ph.D., researcher at the Faculty of Communications and Journalism at Gazi University in Turkey . Bilge Narin tried to answer the question about the relevance of the new journalistic trend in a speech that she made at the 16th international conference in Turkey on the Internet communications of the new millennium. In her report, Bilge identified several major threats associated with the accelerated development of micro-journalism. Some of them are complete distortion and minimization of the text, affecting the violation of semantics and the full perception of information, which can undermine the role of quality journalism. Also, the author notes that the very profession of a journalist is at stake. The reason for this may be an increasing tendency to minimize the text, when used by which talented editors will not be in demand, which will lead to partial degradation of society.

“Short texts and passages became a replacement for the image. Therefore, such journalistic movements can cause a decrease in social responsibility among users and citizens in general. ”

Original text

The small and fragmented texts have become the new images. As a result, such a journalistic practice may cause less informed and non-responsible users and citizens.

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• Mansurova V.D. Digital Calligraphy of a Modern Journalist: The Power of Digital Content
• Miloslavskaya Z.A. "PR-journalism as a product of hybridization of journalistic and PR-text"