Talking about the future of journalism

My student, Alex, and I on Utah Conversations. Link to show.

I recently appeared on Utah Conversations on KUED, and much of this episode of the show centered on the future of journalism. My class is a PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Lab, one of about 100 around the U.S., and my student Alex was fortunate enough to be a fellow this summer with them in Washington D.C. Some of the things the seasoned journalist, Ted Capener, was curious about was whether students have changed over the past few decades and how today's youth use media.

Hyperlocal hybrid

Interesting developments in journalism these days. On the one hand media moguls are trying to consolidate and monetize traditional media streams via subscriptions:

A trio of media executives that includes Court TV and Brill's Content founder Steven Brill, former Wall Street Journal publisher Gordon Crovitz, and Leo Hindery, Jr., managing partner of private equity fund InterMedia Partners, on Tuesday announced the launch of a Journalism Online, a new venture that aims to help monetize online news publishing. The venture plans to create a distributable system that will allow publishers to charge annual or monthly subscriptions to view their content, as well as a portal where consumers could pay a single fee to access content from multiple participating publications.

Media Executives Brill, Crovitz Debut "Journalism Online" Venture | Digital Media Wire

Good luck with the subscription model. On the other hand, the hyperlocal trend shows more promise:

A number of Web start-up companies are creating so-called hyperlocal news sites that let people zoom in on what is happening closest to them, often without involving traditional journalists. The sites, like EveryBlock, Outside.in, Placeblogger and Patch, collect links to articles and blogs and often supplement them with data from local governments and other sources. They might let a visitor know about an arrest a block away, the sale of a home down the street and reviews of nearby restaurants.

‘Hyperlocal’ Web Sites Deliver News Without Newspapers - NYTimes.com

My money is on traditional media teaming up with hypermedia.

Endow newspapers to save them?

By endowing our most valued sources of news we would free them from the strictures of an obsolete business model and offer them a permanent place in society, like that of America’s colleges and universities. Endowments would transform newspapers into unshakable fixtures of American life, with greater stability and enhanced independence that would allow them to serve the public good more effectively.

Op-Ed Contributor - News You Can Endow - NYTimes.com