Change of Philosophy at Columbia Journalism School?
On Forbes.com, some more bad news for journalists and those who aspire to the profession. The relevant quotes:
Another endangered species: journalists. Despite the proliferation of media outlets, newspapers, where the bulk of U.S. reporters work, will cut costs and jobs as the Internet replaces print. While current events will always need to be covered (we hope), the number of reporting positions is expected to grow by just 5% in the coming decade, the Labor Department says. Most jobs will be in small (read: low-paying) markets.
And broadcast journalists aren’t immune to this trend, either:
Radio announcers will have a tough time, too. Station consolidation, advances in technology and a barren landscape for new radio stations will contribute to a 5% reduction in employment for announcers by the middle of the next decade.
The writing is on the wall at Columbia Journalism School, where, according to one professor, even senior print faculty are stressing the need for all students to learn web skills. Ironically, some print students are more resistant to this emphasis than the professors, apparently fearing the technological learning curve or perhaps clinging to obsolete romanticisms of the profession.
The internet has changed the journalism economic model, with bloggers supplying content that journalists had previously charged for in print publication. At work here is the tragedy of the commons – bloggers and citizen journalists typically use news unearthed by professional journalists without compensation, republishing and repackaging the original news items with opinion. Each republishing and repackaging of the original reported content reduces the demand for the actual original form of the content – much like the case in the music industry and file-shared songs. With most news organizations losing money, the issue is whether an economic model can be developed to encourage reporting despite the lack of financial incentives to report. For even if intellectual property law developed in a way in which reported facts are protected by copyright, journalists would then only stand with musicians, trying to establish the fame necessary to generate ancillary income from (reporting) gigs that generate so little revenue of its own. By emphasizing New Media, Columbia Journalism School is trying to give its students the skills necessary to be one-man bands – to report and produce content in a variety of mediums for distribution over the internet. Each journalist would then be a hybrid – a reporter/publisher/producer/writer/techie – to varying degrees. To bring the analogy one step further, Columbia Journalism School is one step closer to making the logical yet startling concession – that traditional newspapers will wither like record companies, increasingly irrelevant distributors of content in the online world.
(Hat Tip: Instapundit).
It’s sink or swim for the modern journalist.
The dirty truth is that journalists aren’t just journalists any more. They’re pundits, techies, specialists and spies. It’s easier than ever for people to get at the info that used to be the province of journalists. Libraries, directories, documents—all that has opened up. The Internet has destroyed journalists’ ability to cite information gathering as a competitive advantage.
So what’s left? You either have to be a mega-expert in a valuable vertical such as Media Law, or you have to be really good at extracting information from the heads of people. That’s what’s left: proprietary information locked in minds. It’s the break-bulk of information. Bits and pieces, not the data stream of commonly available crap. Get scoops to survive. Seems like most journalists forget this or get lazy.
Also worth pointing out that a lot of the work has been done for journalists. The PR machine has geared up to such a level that it’s hard to find REAL news. PR is the new marketing.