<p>^ Due to the ushering of a new technological era with reddit, twitter, iCNN and others, is the long held idea of a journalism profession dying and more and more people are becoming "living" journalists? What's everyone's opinion on this?</p>
<p>This is a great question. I studied journalism 30+ years ago, and in those days we were taught the art of reporting the facts of a story as an objective, engaged, curious reporter. When writing news, any hint of bias was strictly edited OUT. Today it is becoming difficult to find that kind of voice anywhere–online, on tv, radio, print media. Many news stories are written in a style we once called “features.” Or worse, the writer single-sourced the piece, failing to to the leg-work with the pressure to get the story online ASAP. I have had many conversations with the kiddoes about using various web-based articles, blogs, etc. as sources for papers when they’ve taken the writer’s words as fact just because “its on the web.” </p>
<p>As to the concept of the profession dying with more regular people becoming “living journalists,” I can only say, I hope not. The amazing new world view that iphones, twitter, blogging, Facebook and 24/7 news cycles have brought is nothing short of miraculous. It has also made finding the truth, the facts, what is real, so much more difficult. I’m not saying that in the “olden days” all journalists always wrote the truth; but there wasn’t the cacaphony of voices all speaking the “truth.” If everyone can post his or her own version of the truth–how does anyone figure out what the real story is. If, as a 50+ year-old college graduate, feel as if I have to flip to at least five tv news channels and read two newspapers and peek at 3-4 online news sources just to feel comfortable having a balanced view of what’s going on in the world, how the heck are we supposed to expect our high school and college-aged kids to puzzle it out. Until college, one of my kids thought watching Colbert and Stewart was a great way to get balanced news/commentary. OY!</p>
<p>So, please keep those J-schools open and please let them be filled with professors who teach the difference between news, opinion, editorial, persuasive, and scholarly writing. The joys and challenges of this work are still a noble professional calling.</p>
<p>The muckraking journalist has basically disappeared. Instead of journalists serving as watch dogs to people in power, they are now lap dogs.</p>
<p>Pretty much what I thought floridadad55. And yes hilldweller I see your pursuit for a balanced and informative view point as necessary but the problem, I believe, has gone too far. Most people are either in the FoxNews base or the liberal base (which I find to be more accurate and yet not 100%). Nothing at this point can change that, indoctrination by adults is too high. Either the new generation will follow their parents or will be averse to that set precondition and rebel to the complete other side and still be ignorant. A catch-22 if you will. This is what we have come to…</p>
<p>I work at a major newspaper and we’re always amazed that there are young people who are still studying journalism. I would say: You don’t need to study journalism to become a journalist. Get a degree in something that may lead to more career options, such as international business or economics. Then look for journalism internships if you’re still interested in the career. That way you have more flexibility.</p>
<p>To follow what hilldweller said, the current and future generations will need the skills to be able to tell the difference between opinion and facts.</p>
<p>If you watch the news channels, often the anchor comments on everything either directly or through body language. </p>
<p>I think it is evolving, but I am hoping that it will swing back toward the middle.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s dying, if anything I firmly believe it’s enhancing mainly from the help of the internet. Of course that’s not all a GOOD thing, but so many more people actually look to read the news since it’s in front of them on a computer screen. Or, if you have a smartphone, you can download multiple news apps and have breaking news delivered to you as it happens. </p>
<p>So, yeah, I don’t think it’s dying at all. If it were I honestly wouldn’t have bothered majoring in it haha</p>
<p>The answer depends on what you mean by journalism. If you count the number of traditional journalism jobs, like reporter, editor, etc., the field is in decline. Local newspapers used to hire new grads at modest wages, and some portion of these might move on to bigger papers or higher levels of responsibility. Now, those same papers are making do with a lot of syndicated content and freelancers.</p>
<p>On the other hand, there are lots of people engaged in new writing fields, mostly Web-based. There are, I’m sure, many more bloggers and specialized content writers now than there ever were reporters. But, relatively few of those online writers earn a full-time living by their efforts.</p>
<p>There’s a similar situation in ebooks. The traditional barriers to publishing (notably getting discovered by a publishing house) have gone away - it’s easy to be an author now. Earning a living that way is another story.</p>
<p>With the freedom for anyone to practice journalism, we have lost some checks and balances. I just heard from the fact checker at a major magazine where a writer used me as a source. I was surprised by this - today, with the emphasis on speed and competition from blogs and social media, a writer being checked by another person is rare. (One reason why scandals involving invented content are on the rise.)</p>
<p>With regards to earning one’s living by writing books, I think that it can be done using the internet. Look at 50 Shades of Grey, for instance. It’s not a very good book (just my opinion) but it sells. How did it grow to fame? The internet. It started off as Twilight fan fiction.</p>
<p>I find it very hard to believe that back in the day, the percentage of journalists committed to the truth was much higher than it is today. I reckon the current issue has a lot to do with there being just a hell of a lot more journalists. As has been pointed out in previous posts, anyone with an opinion can be a journalist these days.</p>
<p>Further, I for one, never rely on a given source. I don’t believe in anything entirely. It’s always “this is true until proven otherwise” or “at this moment in time, this is the truth, to the best of my knowledge.” It’s not that I play it safe. It’s just that I find very, very hard to affirm such any given thing as entirely true. Curiously, I don’t feel so strongly with things that I deem to be “untrue”, but perhaps there’s some psychological issue there!</p>
<p>I’m a student journalist, and I love the journalism field. I may not be a professional journalist, but I attend National Student Press Association conferences every year, and every year I’ve had professional journalists tell me that jobs for journalists are rapidly shrinking. </p>
<p>HOWEVER, that doesn’t mean the FIELD is dying; it just means that, because we have so many other fast, online, mobile methods of delivering the news–social networking, for example–it is difficult to make a career in delivering the news. The field itself is growing and evolving more than it ever has. There are more opportunities for sharing content than anyone can imagine. The trouble is, ANYONE can share news. So why pay someone to do it?</p>
<p>That said, because I love journalism but do not want an unstable job, I plan on pursuing a career in public relations. It’s part of the journalism field, but more creative and stable. I would advise anyone majoring in journalism to back themselves up by double majoring in business or finding a journalistic career that has stability, like PR. As much as I love journalism, I will be the first one to admit that jobs are quickly disappearing in the field. </p>
<p>Find your niche. Do what you love. I’m not telling people to shy away from being a reporter, if that’s what they truly are passionate about. But if you’re wise, you probably want to find a stable area in the field of journalism to continue your passion AND get that paycheck.</p>
<p>This year UT Austin College of Communication completely changed journalism undergraduate curriculum.</p>
<p>[Our</a> New Curriculum | School of Journalism](<a href=“http://journalism.utexas.edu/undergraduate/curriculum]Our”>http://journalism.utexas.edu/undergraduate/curriculum)</p>
<p>Students are learning multimedia skills, producing their own websites and creating their own digital portfolio. :)</p>
<p>I don’t usually visit this forum but saw the thread highlighted and decided to check it out. I started out as a journalism major almost 30 years ago before switching majors. Like hilldweller, we were taught that a journalist needs to be as impartial as possible when reporting and to verify facts, sources, etc. I have been wondering for several years now if this is even being taught in schools anymore. Does anyone know? My impressions from reading and listening to the news is that it is not. Not trying to hijack the thread…</p>
<p>NeedAVacation - I wonder the same thing. I don’t know why major TV networks have to side with a political party.</p>
<h1>“They will come to love their oppression.” - Huxley</h1>
<p>“We will amuse ourselves to death.” - Neil Postman</p>
<p>I fear that legitimate public discourse and the capacity to critically assess same – plus the opportunity to access salient information – is on the decline in society as a direct result of low quality reporting, partisan reporting, budget cuts in newsrooms (eg. investigative reporting) due to shifts in media revenue-generation and a dramatic increase in consolidated private media ownership. In addition, I believe an eroding attention span among prospective audiences further exacerbates the already devolving caliber of news.</p>
<p>Eg. Today, a correspondent for a wire service not only has to source and write the story to move on the wires; they usually have to grab clips for voice and video, plus blog, tweet and otherwise “move” the first blush content before a story is adequately sourced, vetted, and counter commented. The result is a product that has less depth, less context (and sometimes the devil is in the details) and is more prone to mistake or even mis-characterization.</p>
<p>Eg. How many newsrooms can afford for a team to spend three to six months on an investigative, breaking, research-intensive story or series? IME, few. </p>
<p>These opinions are informed by direct past experience in print journalism as both a journalist and editor, plus current observations working in digital media communications. Thanks for the opportunity to vent ;)</p>
<p>I think what’s killing journalism is that people no longer have to pay for it. The advertising, eyeball model will be shown to be a failure but by then everyone will be used to getting their information for free.</p>
<p>I don<code>t think it</code>s dying…we<code>ll always have news, right? And people will always want to read it, but they are just using it in a different way…newspapers are dying, that</code>s what everyone says, and it<code>s transitioning to online. So we</code>ll always have journalists, but instead of it appearing in print so much, it`ll be online. Maybe 15 years from now the objective will be tweeting a whole news story within the character limit.
Thats my theory, anyways. Id rather write for a newspaper, but I`ll do whatever it takes to write.</p>
<p>I posted the following in another thread earlier:</p>
<p>Many people only associate journalism with newspapers. However, almost all newspapers now also have a web presence. Journalism as a whole is continuously being reinvented in terms of dissemination methods because of technological changes and developments in the way we communicate. </p>
<p>Journalism is also not just considered print/online. Several journalism departments include broadcast, print/online, advertising, and public relation majors. Journalism is not as one-dimensional as folks try to make it out to be. Furthermore, the skills of a journalist are transferable skills. There is always need for individuals who can research, obtain concrete-original info (i.e. through interviewing), effectively interpret info, and express that info in laymen terms to masses. Journalism is a form of communications. The public will always have a general want and need to know news. Also, many folks - in terms of print journalism, still prefer to hold the news in their hands. Also, there are plenty of freelance opportunities. There is opportunity for specialization in journalism. For example, there is science/health reporting and investigative reporting, in which case there are specific associations for each area. </p>
<p>I state all of this to not discourage emotionprelude; if journalism/communications is your passion, go for it. Yes, the state of the industry economically is always something to consider when choosing a field, but there is plenty of variety in the field. Even if you want to consider it for a minor, the field as a whole isn’t a terrible one to go into. You’ll just need to make sure that in addition to the basic principles of legit, fair journalism/communication, that you are up on all of the new technological developments of delivery.</p>
<p>I honestly don’t think it’s “dying.” I agree completely with @boxofchocolate. All the people around me aren’t reading newspapers anymore, but they’re still keeping up with the world through the internet. I don’t think journalism can ever “die out” honestly.</p>
<p>my school does not offer a journalism major. i came in undecided, but looking at my skills and interests, journalism emerged as the clear choice as a major. as i started wondering whether i should transfer, my friends and family posed this question to me. is journalism dying? i do not think so. there will always be a need for talented writers to cover important events. and there will always be people who want to learn about important events from sources they trust. i think journalism is evolving. i definitely believe that newspapers are dying. the media for reporting journalism is changing. i think the internet and TV will be the largest and most popular mediums for journalism.</p>
<p>i chose not to transfer because i do not believe the major in journalism is as important as it once was in order to go into the field. i’m double majoring in political science and english, and minoring in public communications. it is print media that is a dying field, not the whole of journalism. the new era of reporting information and opinion on public affairs will be done on websites, TV, apps for smartphones, and other sources of digital media. and those who are knowledgable in digital media and well-educated in writing will be able to find decent-to-high-earning jobs.</p>
<p>It is definitely not dying. There will always be a need for reporters and people to tell the rest of the world what is going on in it. By that logic, journalism is probably the most secure field to go into.</p>
<p>It is changing though, there’s much more reliance on the Internet and as bridge said, it’s free and advertising is changing as well. You can have ads online too, it’s a change though. I think the future journalism will largely depend on us, the current students in journalism, to shape it and make it better or worse (depending on what we do). We either can adapt to the changes and embrace them or avoid them and fall behind.</p>