Why social media are reshaping the world of news

This was bound to happen. While we may enjoy getting our news gratis via WhatsApp, Facebook and the like, we know that professional journalists are the folks actually gathering, collating and sharing the news.

Among them are reporters who, because of innate talent or long experience – or both – are capable of providing a premium service. They possess the insight and the communication skills to connect all the data points and add value to the news. They show us what a story might actually mean for people like us, where we live.

This is a hugely valuable skill in the age of information overload. When we find it, we celebrate it and 'a star is born'.

The premium service is, by the way, why traditional newspapers need not necessarily fear the growth of mobile internet news. Many local or regional papers are either merging or folding altogether because of declining readerships, yet well-run and resourced publications offer something instant social media can't.

They provide editorial content which makes sense of the news. Wise news proprietors are taking a leaf from the playbook of the online game designers. These whizz kids may let you play the basic online game for free, but if you want the extras – the passwords and tips that improve your score or rating – you need to pay.

In the UK, the Times and the Daily Telegraph are among the top online subscription news services according to Reuters. Whether paywalls will work forever remains to be seen, especially if so few people appear to be willing to pay for news.

In the long run, though, I suspect even the most avid social media users will be reluctant to lose the skills of paid journalists. In the end, professionals need to be paid and we will foot the bill, whether it's through subscriptions (including TV licenses), intrusive advertising or the purchase prices for news apps.

There is a common thread running right through the history of broadcast media. The introduction of any new medium is followed by a period of either disdain or wariness. The established media try to ignore the interloper, or look down the nose at them.

This is followed by a period of convergence where the old-timers, feeling threatened, try to invade the new media's natural terrain. This explains the surge in interest in comedy news among newspaper websites, for example.

Eventually, the old media are fundamentally changed in the process of engaging a shifting audience. In this way, radio altered newspapers when it first appeared; movies reshaped radio; TV changed the way movies were made.

Today, social media and our response to them are changing TV, radio and print media all at once. Our ability to access and understand news can only benefit as a result.