THE FUTURE OF JOURNALISM

By Deb Wenger

Talk about a tough assignment: Offer a view of journalism’s future in 1,000 words or less. So, what better way to boil the information down than with one of the latest (and most hated?) story forms – the “listicle.” Here, a la BuzzFeed, are the Top 5 Predictions for the Future of Journalism. 1. Producing and selling journalism will continue to be profitable. Despite the “journalism is dead” headlines, billions of dollars flow through news media companies and into the hands of the people who own and work for them. Not every journalism grad will get a job in the profession, but those who are talented and passionate will certainly have that option far into the future. People want credible information they can use to make decisions in their lives. They want information that makes their lives more interesting, too. Journalists often provide that information, and if it’s valuable enough, people will pay for it. 2. Journalists will acknowledge that the audience is not made up of the great unwashed, but rather a vast group of partners in the newsgathering process. There’s still a lot of arrogance in journalism — still a lot of people who believe only they know what news is and that anything written as a “listicle” has to be worthless. But, that will change. Journalists will eventually realize that the job is not about giving people what they want vs. what they need; this is about respecting the audience and understanding their value and power. It’s about providing that audience with relevant content in the form and on the platform that works best for them. The ubiquitous nature of audience analytics and other forms of feedback will continue to help journalists in their efforts to better serve the audience. 3. Changes in the technology used to gather and distribute information will continue to affect the practice of journalism . It really started with Gutenberg, didn’t it? Technology put books into the hands of more people than ever, which helped them to learn more than ever before. Today, mobile devices are now significant drivers of news consumption, especially among younger demographics. Television audiences are shrinking, but online video viewing is exploding. Wearables may be the next big thing for news organizations to leverage, or it may be something that’s yet to be invented. Regardless, successful journalists will be watching what’s happening with tech trends and will be thinking about how to apply them to journalism. 4. The definition of journalism and news outlets will continue to expand. There’s a John Cole cartoon from 2009 that shows a future in which a journalism awards ceremony includes, “And this year’s Pulitzer Prize for investigative tweeting goes to…” The question now is, how much longer will that be a joke? For many people, Twitter is as much of a news service as the Associated Press. YouTube is their network news with millions of hours worth of video appearing daily. Foundation-supported news providers, like Kaiser Health News, or non-profit news sources created by individuals such as MinnPost are all part of the new mix, along with Bleacher Report, Deadspin, and yes, BuzzFeed. 5. Ongoing disruption of the profession will mean ongoing criticism of the profession as new story forms and delivery methods emerge. Interestingly, much of the criticism of journalism innovation seems to come from journalists themselves. We don’t have to go back very far in time to find scathing comments about The Huffington Post (yes, The Huffington Post that won a Pulitzer for National Reporting in 2012) in traditional news media. When a media outlet tries something new, whether it’s aggregating content or experimenting with native advertising, the attacks most often come first from within the profession itself. This will not change, but innovation will continue.

What does all this mean for journalism education? American philosopher Eric Hoffer once wrote that, “The only way to predict the future is to have the power to shape the future.”

In many ways, journalism educators are in precisely that position. We have the power to prepare students for a future such as the one described. We can foster an understanding of the business of journalism — the role of advertising and other revenue sources, the need for branding and the ability to analyze audience data, for example. We can do a better job of promoting learning about technology and its impact on the profession, we can push students to keep the audience top of mind and to explore new ways of reaching new segments of that audience. And we can do that while we continue to preserve important foundational principles such as accuracy, fairness and accountability and to emphasize all of the essential components of good storytelling.

Finally, we need to keep learning about and trying to define the journalism of the future ourselves. To quote Hoffer once again:

“In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” The author, associate professor and undergraduate journalism sequence head, is a 17-year broadcast news veteran. Before her academic appointments, Wenger was assistant news director at WFLA-TV in Tampa, Florida. Wenger conducts research in the area of multimedia and provides multimedia training to newsrooms throughout the nation. She was awarded an undergraduate degree from what is now known as Minnesota State University where she graduated summa cum laude. Her master’s degree is from University of North Carolina-Charlotte.