The Future of Journalism

Shutting out reporters won't shut down the press.

   Watchdog journalism may be more important than ever as the nation starts a new era with a new President, who has repeatedly excoriated the media when they report anything negative.
   Moreover, backers who demand support for a President because he is the President, and for no other reason, fail to understand the mission of journalism.
   Certainly the profession is changing, as social media, broadcasting and internet activity all put pressure on print journalism, and newspapers are reacting by reducing staff where they can and adapting their coverage to the new technology.
   But at its base, print journalism will still have a major role to play in the information culture.
   For one thing, newspapers have the space and the resources to publish more in-depth reports, commentary and analysis of news events. Television, both cable and broadcast, can't be matched for immediacy and impact. But it cannot cover as many stories from as many regions and in as much depth as print.
   An advantage of television is that viewers can see every moment of every event anywhere in the world. There is no editing, and commentators must wing it as the story unfolds. Later, broadcasters can edit the video and provide a summary, but the constraints of time limit the length of a story.
   A daily newspaper, on the other hand, offers more detail about more stories, along with analysis and commentary, which readers can peruse at whatever pace they choose. Moreover, the print version becomes a permanent historical record.
   But because the public's awareness of what politicians and elected officials say and do is critical to upholding a democratic society, news outlets are expanding their staff coverage, especially in Washington. And this means staffers must become more adept at reporting, writing better stories faster and more completely than ever, offering their material both to traditional print and to the new electronic media.
   Gone are the days when a beat reporter called in information to the rewrite staff, who then prepared the story for editors to polish before it was sent to typesetters, compositors and proofreaders, then finally to the presses.
   Today, many of the steps have been taken over by technology, so newsroom staff produce more material faster, and the stories move to public view via computers within minutes.
   Yes, some manufacturing jobs have been lost to technology, but that same technology has enabled more jobs in total to those who are more skilled and earn higher pay doing so, whether they work in print, broadcast or electronic media.
   The net result is that the public is more informed about more events than ever. And an informed public is the core of a free society.