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CHAPTER 2 The Future of Journalism
Overview
This chapter has been completely revised in an effort to focus on the role technology is
playing in journalism from its effects on journalism jobs to the way it is affecting
newspapers and other legacy media. Despite the challenges in the industry, we believe
Teaching Tips
Many journalism students are perhaps quite rightly concerned about whether there will be
jobs available in the industry when they leave school. The ultimate message of this chapter is
hopeful. While legacy media are shrinking, new media are growing and hiring. And even
legacy media are hiring journalists with new media skills. It might be helpful to reinforce this
positive message from the outset by bringing in listings of new media job opportunities so
Lecture Notes
I. INTRODUCTION
A. News industry is in rapid decline.
II. TECHNOLOGY AND JOBS IN JOURNALISM
A. Technology has resulted in a huge shift in how news is delivered.
1. Not just the news business retail (Amazon), travel (Travelocity, Expedia),
2. Much less employment by newspapers, but employment booming at websites.
B. News audiences are increasing.
1. Faster and easier access to the Web much higher concentration of broadband
access and in-home wireless access.
2. For both newspapers and television/radio, easier access has the effect of reducing
market but increasing audience.
III. THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY ON NEWSPAPERS
A. Newspaper revenues are falling.
1. Newsroom employment is down.
2. Industry revenue is down.
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3. Print advertising generates less than half of revenue.
B. The need for reinvention.
1. Newspapers are profitable.
IV. NEWSPAPERS: STILL THE SOURCE OF MOST NEWS
A. If legacy media disappear, who produces the news?
V. OTHER LEGACY MEDIA ARE AFFECTED, TOO
A. Local television (TV) broadcast news viewership is up; cable viewership is down.
VI. NEW MODELS FOR PROVIDING THE NEWS
A. Entrepreneurial journalism.
1. Venture capital, foundations, hybrids, old media/new media hybrids, individual
entrepreneurs.
VII. EMBRACING CITIZEN JOURNALISM
A. One-to-many model is fading in favor of involving public in news gathering,
criticism.
B. Problems with citizen journalism:
C. Six types of citizen journalism:
1. Audience participation user comments attached to news stories.
2. Independent news or information websites (e.g., Drudge Report).
VIII. PROSPECTS FOR JOURNALISM GRADS
A. Broad preparation is required.
1. Working knowledge of the Web.
2. Knowledge of differences in Web vs. print.
3. Video shooting and editing skills.
B. There are jobs to be found, especially on the Web.
C. Community engagement.
Class Activities and Discussion Questions
Activity 1: The Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism notes that the chief problem in
February 2010, Kachingle.com officially opened for business. Online readers agreed to pay
$5 a month and allow the money to be distributed to their favorite sites by clicking a
like Kachingle work for legacy media that have always depended on the revenue model?
Should legacy media sign up for services like Kachingle? What are the pitfalls of the
Activity 2: Place students in groups of four or five, provide them with a piece of poster
paper, and have them create a revised defini
define the concept from the perspectives of themselves, their friends, and their parents. Have
Activity 3: The authors note that the U.S. is experiencing the biggest shift in media
consumption patterns since colonial times. What are the media consumption patterns of your
Medium Minutes per Day
Other (books, music, etc.)
Then ask students to duplicate the grid, this time estimating what it might look like for a
Discussion questions: How are the media
Here are some general television statistics that might help invigorate the discussion.
According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than four hours of
Percentage of households that possess at least one television: 99.
Number of TV sets in the average U.S. household: 2.24.
Percentage of U.S. homes with three or more TV sets: 66.
Activity 4: The text lists six different emerging financial models for Web-based journalism:
Financed by venture capital.
Funded by foundations.
Financed with hybrid models.
Financed as an old-media/new-media hybrid.
Ask students to work in pairs and note at least two advantages and disadvantages of each
model, and have them share their results. Discussion questions: What generalizations can we
Activity 5:
for online content. The New York Times entered the fray when it began charging
nonsubscribers who access more than 10 articles a month. Conduct a debate on the issue of
whether newspapers should charge for their online content. Put students in groups of three
opportunity to develop an opening statement, at least three key arguments, and a closing
statement. Preparation and research can be brief (less than one class session with only the text
for background information) or extensive (outside of class, with outside research required).
Depending on the size of your class, you can either (1) run a series of independent debates
Activity 6: Bring in listings of journalism and new media jobs from publications such as
JournalismJobs.com and mediabistro.com. Print out listings so that a single listing appears on
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a single piece of paper. Ask pairs of students to analyze six to eight different job listings and
be prepared to report the following: job title, skills required and experience required.
Solutions to Textbook Exercises
1. The news consumption habits of Millennials, Generation Xers and Baby Boomers are
2. Politico.com is, of course, focused entirely on politics. The Washington Post is a legacy
media company, purchased by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos in 2013, which in some
3. Many sites on the Internet now provide financial and other information about companies.
A simple Google search will lead students to them. One that is quite useful is Yahoo
Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com). There students will find all the information they are
4. Frankly, the odds of any of your students not already being on Twitter are slim at best.
But many Twitter users, including many of your students, aren t using the medium as a
news source. The purpose of this exercise is to have students not only tap into the power
of Twitter as an easy way to follow the news, but also assess the effectiveness of Twitter
as a news source. The rise of Twitter as a credible player in the journalism world by
both publications and practitioners is one of the more interesting trends in the
5. You might suggest students check out the job listings on www.journalismjobs.com and
mediabistro.com. Students shouldn t be surprised that many contemporary jobs require a
6. Your journalism blog. Almost all cities have a local website these days. Students should
be able to find and interview the owner of a locally based website. If necessary, provide
the class with a list of such sites. Students should find out whether the site seeks to make
money. If so, is it successful? If not, how will the site continue to operate? In some cases,
running the site is a passion for the owner, who often has another job. The class
Solutions to Workbook Exercises
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1. The list of multimedia requirements listed in the textbook is a good starting point for this
exercise.
2. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are tools, and collegiate newspapers can use
them just as effectively and in some cases more effectively than the professionals.
Facebook), and the readers of college newspapers will obviously also tend to be younger
than the consumers of legacy media. Students should also be aware that their own social
media history is something they need to manage their private tweets and Facebook
status updates can follow them into their careers. However, social media can also help
3. Students will get more information if they do this exercise as a team project. One team
member can research newspapers and magazines in the city and its suburbs, another can
research broadcast outlets, and other students can research online sources of news.
Encourage students to find as much information as they can about the financial health of
the various media outlets. Financial information is readily available for publicly traded
companies, but it may be impossible to find for privately held media businesses. Even if
funded news websites are taking off. Students may even find websites funded by right-
wing or left-wing foundations trying to put a spin on the news. That is happening already
in some state capitals.
4. Excellent college newspaper sites are found at Kansas State University
(www.kstatecollegian.com) and the University of California at Berkeley
5. Information about publicly traded newspaper companies can be found in various places
where quarterly reports are posted. Yahoo Finance is an excellent place to search. If your
6. www.naa.org) has excellent information about newspaper
top of the page. Once that opens, tabs on the left side will lead to a host of information.
This exercise provides an excellent opportunity to discuss bias on websites. A site that
7. We like to refer students to Newsy.com because it represents an entirely new approach to
covering the news. Newsy takes the same story from multiple sources and compares how
suggests that it appeals to many people. Newsy.com s website says it s the source for
concise, unbiased video news and analysis covering the top stories from around the world.
With persistent curiosity and no agenda, we strive to fuel meaningful conversations by
8. This exercise can lead to a good class discussion about the importance of understanding
audiences and tailoring content to them. Segmented sites often have more appeal to
advertisers than general news sites do. This same dynamic propels targeted websites like
9. One of the challenges of publishing citizen journalism is the risk that the information is
incorrect or inaccurate. Participatory sites often have stories that would never appear in a
newspaper. Sometimes the information is useful (ways of increasing tomato plant
CHALLENGE EXERCISES
1.We like to get our students out of their element to find sources for news, so we usually
forbid them from interviewing other students. The point of this exercise, however, is to
the Pew study. Do their findings reinforce the Pew findings or call them into question?
This is a terrific exercise to do early in the semester because students get to practice
Chapter 3. Some questions for students to ask:
b. Which of these media did you use yesterday to receive news?
c. On average, how many times a day do you use the following?
1. Newspapers
2. Television
d. What is your age group?
1. 50 or older
2. Th
website. As students will discover through this exercise, these new responsibilities
increase the difficulty of the job. Imagine having to cover a news conference and being