Extra, extra! Don't count the news out yet!

It’s like a giant media teeter-totter. As the internet has become more prevalent in our everyday lives, the newspaper industry has been sinking at an equally quick rate. Coincidence? Of course not. In a poll taken by The Atlantic and National Journal, members of the national news media have said what we all know but can’t bring ourselves to say…print is dead. 43% of those polled said that journalism has been hurt by online outlets.

So its official, newspapers are on their death bed and the internet is standing overhead with a pillow, waiting to take print’s last breath. We all knew this was coming, so the debate on how to save print must end. The discussion should now turn to how do we adapt journalism to online media while sparing the integrity of the practice? Can it even be done?

President of Thomson Reuters, Chris Ahern, seems to think so. In fact, at a Federal Trade Commission workshop, Ahern told attendees that he thinks journalism will not only survive, but thrive. The key is to disconnect the actual practice with the hard newspaper. Once we do, we can embrace the new technological tools that are hurting the industry as use them to further it.

Alright, Mr. Ahern, I’m listening. So how do we do that, and what tools specifically are we talking about here? Well, there’s the obvious addition like hyperlinks, quicker updates, easier access and, not to mention free access. Blogs are certainly an avenue that needs to be explored. But when I think of blogs, I think of twenty-something know-it-all types posting political rants or funny videos of cats playing the piano (or possibly both) for their friends to read and comment on. Not exactly what I want to think of when it comes to hard news. So let’s use a different term, like citizen journalism.

Citizen journalism is certainly on the rise, and for good reason. In a nutshell, it’s a way for citizens to report on the news and events happening in their community. Those who are serious about their reporting adhere to traditional journalism standards (i.e. seek truth, remain impartial, etc) but they’re able to report from a different perspective as they are a member of said community so the news directly effects them. It’s a refreshing angle that online news consumers seem to be gravitating towards.

News outlets (or at least more progressive ones) are leaning towards this type of reporting as well. Locally, The Ann Arbor Chronicle and Grosse Pointe Today are websites that feature contributors from within the community. News outlets save money on reporters, consumers stay informed, and citizen journalists find a renewed passion for the art because they’re able to be involved in the process. Sounds like a win so far.

Even beyond community news, blogs are able to make news accessible to the larger audiences who wouldn’t normally partake because they’re able to cater to niche markets. Here we go with the long tail again. For those who find CNN too dry, there’s the Huffington Post. For those who find Fox News too conservative, there’s…uh, well anything else. People can hear what they want to hear.

And for every news story reported, there is a blogger commenting. News doesn’t have to be talked at an audience, the audience can talk back! There’s the ability tell the outlets what they want to hear, what they don’t, how they feel. Any market that exists, be it college-hipsters in Ann Arbor or senior citizen residents of the tiny town of Clawson, a citizen journalist can report on news that directly effects them. Now, like Mr. Ahern said, as soon as we figure out how to charge for this, via subscription, a la carte, etc., we’ll have overcome the hurdle.

But, as I’ve discussed in this blog before, there is a risk when news caters to niche markets. To be truly informed citizens, we cannot always hear only what we want to hear. Take the recent health care debates for example—republicans only want to hear about death panels, and democrats only want to hear about free health care for all. Clearly there’s more involved, and as participants in this democracy we need to hear ALL of it. Therefore, there still is and will always be a need for traditional (and might I add, adequately paid) investigative journalists. But how do we keep them around when journalism seems to be evolving into a more open, public domain? That, I believe, is the really exciting part.

Let me set up the exciting part with a sad preface. As many might’ve heard, WXYZ Channel 7 news decided earlier this year not to renew the contract of their long time investigative power house Steve Wilson. A similar situation happened early in 2009 to FOX 2’s Steve Lewis. They’re both talented investigative reporters, delivering invaluable news and issues to the city of Detroit. They were so good at their jobs, that their respective stations, in the wake of a sort of journalism recession, couldn’t afford them anymore.

In an interview this past February, Detroit Free Press reporter M.L. Elrick asked Wilson what he sees as the future of investigative reporting in the wake of his dismissal. Wilson insisted, of course, that the practice is vital to sound city and national government alike, but that in order to stay afloat we need to conserve our resources. He suggested the development of a Michigan Center for Investigative Reporting; a non-profit establishment that news outlets could essentially contract out for investigative matters.

While Wilson’s dream may seem like just that, he might be on to something. On Monday, the Associated Press announced that it plans to open several regional investigative teams. The idea, according to AP is to “provide reporting and presentation resources for the cooperative’s reporters around the nation.”

In other words, AP is trying to combine all the great ideas of the new journalism era--- the local angle of citizen journalism, the quality reporting we’re accustomed to, and the conservation of resources needed to stay alive in a struggling industry. Now THAT’S what we’re talking about, guys! Way to think outside the box. It looks like journalism may be on its way toward a revolution and not demise. So, to all you journalism cynics, put that in your iPad and smoke it.

Citations

The Atlantic magazine

Media Insiders say Internet Hurts Journalism

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/04/media-insiders-say-internet- hurts-journalism/7410/

Reuters

How will journalism survive the Internet Age?

http://blogs.reuters.com/from-reuterscom/2009/12/11/how-will-journalism-survive- the-internet-age/

Newspaper photo by Alex Barth, licensed by Creative Commons under as Attribution Generic 2.0

Rosie the Blogger photo by Mike Licht of notionscapital.com, licensed by Creative Commons under

as Attribution Generic 2.0