The Future of Journalism

“There may be more of them, not fewer, as the ability to participate in journalism extends beyond the credentialed halls of traditional media. But they may be paid far less, and for many it won’t be a full time job at all. Journalism as a profession will share the stage with journalism as an avocation. Meanwhile, others may use their skills to teach and organize amateurs to do a better job covering their own communities, becoming more editor/coach than writer.”

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/07/06/090706crbo_books_gladwell?currentPage=3

http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/petermansbridge/2013/05/the-future-of-journalism.html

I do not agree. I think journalism will always exist as a profession, and not merely as a hobby.

The quote is from “Free” by Chris Anderson and it appears in both of the links above. One of the topics of Anderson’s book is the way in which the business landscape is changing for journalism.

This change coincided with the online/digital revolution of the twenty-first century.  He mentions sites like YouTube that offer unlimited content for free.

Change has been felt in the newsrooms in Canada. Last year the Winnipeg Free Press had major lay-offs. The Globe and Mail recently offered its employees a buyout option.

Despite all of this, I still decided to become a journalism major. I spoke with a few former journalism majors over the summer as they had found careers teaching English in Korea. They were very pessimistic, but does all of this doom and gloom paint a full and complete picture?

One of the sentiments often uttered by both of my journalism instructors last year, was that “there was no such thing as a print journalist anymore”.

They didn’t mean that print journalism was dead but that the days of a person being a print journalist and only a print journalist were over. In this modern era, governed by free content and counted web hits, it is essential for the journalist to diversify their skills.

This factored into my decision to go to Korea over the summer, in order to make a documentary about English teachers. If I want to find a job in journalism I know I’m going to have to learn how to do more, including shooting and editing video in the field.

And jobs there are. A quick search found the following link where jobs for journalists could be found.

http://ca.indeed.com/Journalism-jobs

It’s far too early to draw any conclusions as to what the long-term effects will be from this changing face of journalism, but in the end I believe there will always be a place for the well skilled, professional journalist.