The world of journalism is fast-paced and will only continue to become more so. With greater interconnectivity and proliferation of technology, we can access more than one source of information at once.

We are able to get different viewpoints and perspectives thus removing the traditional blinders that staying “loyal” to a single news service puts. We are also able to discuss events with others as they happen.

Traditional media will die a slow and tortured death as blogs, digital news sources and social media platforms take over the role of presenting new information. The rate of delivery from source to consumer is quickening all the time and with short presentation platforms such as Twitter, the ability of people to absorb short, but powerful messages will win out over being kept in the loop twice a day through newspapers, or even television.

Television has achieved a better transition to the internet with live streaming of studios and short news videos of between a minute and five. Additionally, as large numbers of people read news on their small mobile devices, the quest for the strongest message in the shortest possible space continues — people don’t want to read essays on 1.5 by 2.5 inch screens.

The trend of going smaller does not stop with article or screen size. Traditional news coverage has always featured a hands-on approach or if it is affordable, a helicopter to follow stories. The future, however, is left to drones.

Pictures and videos of the Costa Concordia, Typhoon Haiyan and Taksim Square protests were shot with drones. As technology improves, these drones will gain greater range, flying time, picture and video resolution, eventually leading camera operators to become proficient in drone operations as well.

Citizen journalism has risen to new heights and will keep on soaring for as long as people perceive the news they are presented with can be improved upon. The proliferation of personal blogs to disseminate and present information to different people drains the traffic from traditional providers.

Sites like Mashable and Buzzfeed, once considered trashy, have expanded enormously and have the younger generations hooked. Most youngsters receive news no through CNN or the BBC, but through Facebook news feeds that pop-up while browsing. This will lead to a greater amount of online advertising as print loses popularity.

Geo-targeting of users to deliver content will also be a favoured option. This is based on

a) where they’re based and

b) where they are accessing the site from at the immediate moment.

This leads to anticipatory news — predicting news based on a person’s location.

The future of journalism seems to be very anti-corporate but the ability of journalism to continuously evolve was and is being underestimated. If, however, outlets do get their act into gear, there will be lots of healthy competition to keep everyone on their toes.