Frontline's piece on convergence of media and the movement of traditional journalism to more modern online forms exemplifies the modern media hype over journalism's future.
It is true that the face of journalism is changing, news is moving online, large papers are laying off employees and bloggers are garnering more attention from the mainstream. But I believe that the actual change does not, yet, live up to what we have been told. Large traditional newspapers have recently fallen on hard times, lay-offs have not been uncommon and most news media sources are beginning to move toward newer media. On the other hand small local newspapers continue to grow.
It is not just likely that blogs, online news, and "man on the street" reporting will become more popular, it is inevitable. Journalism must and will evolve to accomodate these changes but I do not think the change is what some would proport. Newspapers will not die but their circulation will decrease and they will likely turn to online journalism to fill the gap. They will have to incorporate more video and audio media to quench a new generation's thirst for news in a different form. At the same time they will also likely lose some market share and might be forced to coalesce with other sources including local television news.
It will be increasingly important for young journalists to have a firm grasp on new media but reporting and writing skills, staples of traditional journalism, will continue to be the most important factors in mainstream journalism.
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