Over the past decade and a half, the U.S. media industry has experienced a seismic shift, with approximately 2,900 newspapers ceasing operations and 43,000 journalists losing their jobs. The rise of digital platforms is largely to blame. The fallout, while challenging, has resulted in new opportunities in the digital space and called for a redefining of journalism.
Scholars Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy in “What Works in Community News” and Brant Houston in “Changing Models for Journalism” provide valuable perspectives on this ongoing transformation. They expound on how this shift is redefining traditional models of journalism, from community news outlets to investigative reporting.
Houston, the esteemed Knight Chair in Investigative Reporting at the University of Illinois, dedicates a significant portion of his work to examining the new tools, practices, and trends within the industry. A major point of focus is the influence of technology in journalism, from data analysis tools to the significant role social media plays in today’s news reporting.
Adapting journalism in the digital era
Houston’s work is an essential guide for those interested in the evolving landscape of digital journalism.
However, Houston, Clegg, and Kennedy all argue that intending to start a news-based startup without consulting their books equates to attempting a complex cooking task without a recipe. They stress the importance of their work in assisting new journalists to navigate the intricate landscape of modern journalism and understand the direction it may be heading in the future.
In their book, Clegg and Kennedy propose addressing the crisis in the news industry at a grassroots level, using ‘The Bedford Citizen’ project as an example. Initiated by three members of the League of Women Voters, the project has grown to become a primary local news source through community support, volunteer reporters, and a focus on unbiased, local news. They argue that this model, which promotes transparency in local governance and fosters an informed citizenry, could be cloned across the U.S. to revive local news reporting.
The significance of adapting to the evolving technological landscape in the digital era, as illuminated by these authors, showcases a major shift in news generation and dissemination. Their emphasis on meeting community needs presents the potential to redefine and strengthen the news media-audience relationship. Hence, these texts provide invaluable insights for anyone aiming to navigate and thrive in the evolving world of journalism.
