Journalists are storytellers who need an audience. Credit: NMPFT/Syndication International

Today, we are living through a ‘news revolution’.  Communications technology has changed dramatically in recent years, and the speed of change will, if anything, accelerate in the future. The use of new media will completely transform the news industry. However, should technological change be viewed as a threat to ‘traditional’ news, or will it complement it, ultimately improving the quality and choice of news available to the consumer? The development of new ways of gathering and distributing news does not necessarily herald the disappearance of traditional forms of presenting it. The newspaper may have replaced the coffee house as a source of news, but this does not mean that the Internet will inevitably replace the newspaper. After all, the humble pencil has survived the invention of the ballpoint pen, the typewriter and the computer.

Audiences are able to watch news 24 hours a day. Credit: Copyright © BBC

INTELSAT, the International Telecommunciation Satellite Organisation, is jointly owned by all its member nations and has established a worldwide system of satellites, which provide most of the world's international communications. Credit: Science Museum/Science & Society Picture Library

Regardless of the technology used to gather and distribute it, the essence of news remains the same. Journalists are storytellers who need an audience and so the future of news will be shaped more by journalists and consumers than by the changing technologies by which it is gathered and disseminated. The media reflect the social and political interests of their audiences. A range of factors – including economics and culture – influence the way that the media represent and define the times in which we live. It is society rather than science that dictates the nature of news. Ultimately, we get the news that we deserve.