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The future of journalism?

Posted on 12. Feb, 2009 by NW1er in Communications, People

I attended a talk recently on the future of journalism, where Daniel Dodd, head of online at the BBC, and Roger Alton, editor at the Independent, discussed current trends in news and the progressive move to online content. Lively and informative, the discussion demonstrated how aggregate news sites, such as Yahoo, are the most used news sources. Interesting, because so much chatter in the PR world seems to focus on the role and influence of blogs as the new news medium. Whilst citizen journalism, twitters and blogs undoubtedly have their role, both of the media heavy weight speakers highlighted the public’s desire for high quality content, expertly produced, that offers genuine and validated insight whilst at the same time being charming, charismatic and on the money. “Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they”, I hear you say. Well yes they would, and rightly so. Blogs offer opinion but can they really match up to the global reach of a highly-trained journalist network and can bloggers, even ‘super-bloggers’, present the quality of visual content we all know and love from the BBC?

I don’t think so. Blogs have their time and place but I don’t think we should get totally distracted. A picture tells a thousand words and a news report with video footage tells so much more. And then there are newspapers. Many argue that the paper will never die as people love the tangible nature of media outputs – newspapers, CDs and vinyl. But this stinks of the perspective of someone aged 25 or over. Can we really assume to know how younger generations interact with media platforms and whether they need tangibility? My nephews and nieces all sit on the sofa with a laptop each and message across the room – I don’t think its long before the world goes wireless and paperless. So what does this mean for newspapers, other than bad news? The challenge is immense and broadcasters such as the BBC and CNN have a huge head start. But I’m confident that editorial powerhouses, like Roger Alton, will have the wits and charm to steer their organisations through these times – albeit it in a slimmed down, specialised, opinionated way. My prediction is that newspapers will become more and more the ‘people’s champion’ and journalism will become more aggressive. But I’m ok with that – as long as it is done ethically and responsibly. And this is what I think we must remember – journalists have a code and produce quality news. Can the same be said of bloggers?

Tags: blogging, journalism, Social media, twitter