New Technologies and New Experts An Insight on the Idea of Expertise in Relation with New Media

Have new media and new technologies brought new conditions to what we understand as media expertise? How do these apply to journalism? The traditional idea of expertise is being contested in relation to the changes brought by new technologies. Some processes in the production of information have been shortened by new media, making epistemological expertise and technical expertise converge in the definition of the multimedia journalist. The relation between the author and the public has also morphed the meaning of authorship, now that the audience plays an active role in the stories. The state of the expert as an authority determines the professional relation that governs the newsroom; in a moment where the multimedia journalist harnesses a larger responsibility in the stories, this must be managed through dialogue and recognition by higher-ranked professionals. With all, the expert acts as such when it uses its knowledge and skill in order to adapt.