Impact of technological innovation adoption on journalism practices in Malaysia
Keywords:
Journalism practice, technological innovations adoption, impact, newspapersAbstract
Journalism practices in Malaysia rooted in the print media industry and has expanded along with the development of technological innovations since more than 200 years. The first newspaper was published in 1806 in Penang and it is regarded as the beginning of formal journalism practices in this country. Thus, it is important to examine the newspaper industry’s evolution from the perspective of adoption of new technology by newspaper industry practitioners with an emphasis on the mainstream newspapers, and the impact on journalism practices. This paper focuses on continuous technological innovations – during pre-computer mediated communication and computer-mediated communication eras, - including current Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption, that have changed the print media journalism practices in Malaysia. The writer was guided by Interactive Communication Technology Adoption Model, Communication and Technological and Cultural Change Model, Technological Determinism Theory and Diffusion of Innovations Theory. Findings, based on qualitative approach, show that the way journalism practices being carried out – information gathering, news reporting and news writing, editing and content development process have changed and impacted partially. The adoption of new technologies also brought changes and impact in the newsroom landscape. One significant finding is that although most of newspapers have a long history of establishment, the level of adoption, changes and impact differs from one language newspaper to another. The fundamental principles, forms and characteristics of journalistic practices of newspapers industry in this country remain the same. Findings also show that the adoption of new technologies and impact were influenced by both internal and external factors. However, the impact on journalism practices is not solely determined by technological innovations but other factors such as laws and regulations, media system, ownership, political ideology, national aspiration and editorial policy of the respective media organisations.
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