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Jul
21
View from the editor’s chair
Posted by Vera Haller on Jul 21, 2008 under: business, economy, foreign news, newspapers, online news
A new report about the state of the newspaper industry doesn’t hold a lot of news. The survey of editors by Pew’s Project for Excellence in Journalism includes an oft-repeated take on the situation — smaller staffs, more focus on local news, less national and foreign news and a younger, more Web-savvy newsroom. The report, called “The Changing Newsroom,” is very direct about the uncertainty editors feel about the future, especially how shrinking ad revenue will affect their ability to do their jobs. Here’s a quote:”The editors expect the financial picture only to worsen, and they have little confidence that they know what their papers will look like in five years.”I guess the only sure thing about “The Changing Newsroom” is that there will be change.
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One of my professors who has been working in the field of journalism for many years now touched upon the discussion of how print journalism is becoming a thing of the past.
Various forms of media shifting from print to electronic have only recently began to take shape over the past several years.This has had a dramatic impact on print media as it is becoming more convenient for publishers to compose one online paper (for example) instead of printing out millions of paper ones.
The consequences of this trend mark a sobering reality for the continuing and future careers of print editors and journalists.
I’ve heard of news media transferring mediums from print to a more widespread audience on over the net…but it seems things have truly worsened. This has a catastrophic conclusion because there will be plenty of individuals without jobs due to the transition from print to electronic being difficult.
Though it will be easy for the medium to transfer and reach a wider audience when it becomes more electronically geared, the price is a heavy one to pay for employees.
The news media, like any other, have been prone to these changes for a long time. With changing technology confronting the dinosaur that the news industry has become, we should all be thrilled and ready for a new era–possibly a journalistic renaissance. Those who keep up and stay relevant shall survive.