journalism
Keeping Local News Flowing
Local news was a focal point at the recent FTC workshop, “How Will Journalism Survive the Internet Age?" Reed Hundt reported on the Knight Commission recommendations and emphasized the role of local news in promoting the traditional U.S. policy goal of localism both in newspapers and in broadcasting. Matthew Gentzkow reported on his study that the entry and exit of newspapers from local communities have the most pronounced effect on voter participation in local elections. Tom Rosenstiel emphasized again that local newspapers have more reporters on the ground to cover local news stories than all other local news entities combined, and drew the logical conclusion: Economic threats to local newspapers strike at the heart of the availability of information concerning the issues of public importance to local communities.
Journalism: A Classic ‘Public Good’
This post also appears at www.NewPublicMedia.org.
Last year practically burst at the seams with reports, conferences and other high-profile gatherings on the future of journalism. So what comes next? As one blog post summarized in December, “If 2009 was a year of study and debate about the future of journalism, 2010 must be a year of action.”
Those looking for a roadmap this year should turn to the latest analysis from Bob McChesney and John Nichols, whose new book, The Death and Life of American Journalism, kicks off the new decade with some sage advice: You want to save journalism? Take a history lesson, stop fear-mongering about government involvement in journalism, and get organized.
Watching Over California
After a few delays, a few new staff and a few solid investigative projects under its belt, the California Watch Web site launched this week.
California Watch is a project of the longstanding nonprofit journalism organization, the Center for Investigative Reporting. With new journalism projects launching every week, what’s interesting about California Watch? I mention a few specifics below, but in general, California Watch embodies a number of the key ideas that we at SaveTheNews.org think will shape the future of news in America.
Leading Role for Public Media at FTC
This post originally appeared on www.NewPublicMedia.org
The second act of the Federal Trade Commission’s production of the latest off-Broadway hit, “Much Ado about the Future of Journalism,” came with a nice plot twist. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) kicked it off yesterday with a commendable soliloquy that pushed the market forces argument out of the spotlight by introducing suggestions for policy changes to promote a “vigorous” free press.
Public Media: Front and Center at the Future of News
This post originally appeared on www.NewPublicMedia.org.
Throughout the country and across the political divide, there has been a surge of support lately for a national investment in journalism. Meeting the information needs of our communities has become what the Twitter folks would call “a trending topic.”
In fact, this month alone saw the release of two major reports on the state of journalism and newsgathering in the United States.
Public Media and Journalism: A Crisis is a Terrible Thing to Waste
This is a guest post by Mark MacCarthy, a professor at Georgetown University's Communication, Culture, and Technology Program.
I want to develop the idea that substantially increased federal funding for public service media that provide local news and information would be an effective public policy response to the crisis in journalism. I start from several propositions:
Valuing Journalism
When it comes to the future of journalism, I often hear us asking the wrong questions and then wondering why we can’t find any reasonable answers. For example, people ask: “Should government get involved in journalism?” The reality is that since the establishment of our democratic system of government, laws and policies have always shaped journalism and media. So we should not ask if government should be involved, but rather how government should be involved.
Beyond Blue Ribbons
In general, there have been three kinds of responses to the calls for President Obama to endorse a commission to on the future of journalism and public media in America:
1. “Keep the government out of my journalism.”
2. “What good will a commission do?”
3. “Thank goodness, it’s about time!”
Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post exemplified the second and third responses in his article earlier this week, essentially arguing, “We don't need no stinkin' presidential commission.” My colleague Josh Silver has already outlined a few of the flaws in Kurtz’s article, but I want to step back and explore these responses to the commission idea in more depth.
Saving Journalism: Howard Kurtz Is Wrong, Dan Rather Is Right
On Monday, Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post and CNN criticized veteran newsman Dan Rather for his recent call for a White House commission on the future of journalism and public media.
It was a misguided criticism of Mr. Rather, who has called for the commission as a way to bring attention to the crisis facing American newsrooms (20,000 newspaper jobs lost in the past 18 months alone), and to create the political will necessary to get our elected leaders to address the problem.
What’s Your Vision for Journalism’s Future? Take the Poll
We’ve already shared with you our vision for journalism’s future. This weekend
Dan Rather shared his. But what’s yours?
Today, we launched a poll designed to give you a chance to share your vision for the future of the news, and to let us know how changes in journalism are affecting your community. We want your help in shaping this campaign, and we need you to reshape public policy in Washington, D.C.
