The Future of Journalism

The timing of this blog seems to be ironic, for me at least. Some other students might be grumbling because its so nice outside and they are stuck behind a laptop writing yet another blog. But not me, I have a lot to say about this subject. I believe the future of journalism is soley based on our shoulders. Ours meaning, us as students. Young folk, students, teenagers, are the future of journalism. Over the weekend I saw Ira Glass, the host of NPR’s This American Life talk at Keene State University. While he did speak about how his program was constructed and how his fan base has reached in the millions, his message, at least to me seemed simple. Journalism today is boring. Broadcast journalism, at least. Glass reiterated over and over again that the language used by news broadcasters is almost like a language other than English. I believe that it can’t hold our attention for more than three seconds. We live in a society today that is fueled by twitter and Facebook, we crave instant information and we also want to be entertained. 

If a news agency doesn’t hold our attention, how are we supposed to hear the news? Bill Maher, host of Bill Maher made an interesting point in a profanity filled rant the other day. He stated that he audited major news agencies like CBS and CNN and found that, shockingly, the most popular news was the weather. The weather?! You stand outside for two seconds and that is the weather, its not news! News is supposed to be what is going on in the world, not Balloon Boy, or any other cultural news event that seems like trash. However, the real news is well, depressing. Average people don’t want to hear how many Americans are being killed overseas, and how our economy is slowly recovering from a crippling recession. No. 

They want to hear about Balloon boy, and the weather. Glass’ solution to this problem was simple, make news entertaining. This is easier said than done. The Daily Show is a good example of a median that is both entertaining and newsworthy and the key to that program is reporting the news with a conversational tone. Conversation is key, young people don’t want to be lectured, hearing about how awful shape the world is in. We want to be talked to, related to, and catered to. While that attitude seems a bit bratty, it’s the truth.  

The future of journalism depends on us, and I have faith in the young population to not only keep the aspect of traditional journalism alive but I believe that the youth will change the way journalism is perceived. As students, it is imperative that we are trained in all the aspects of multimedia journalism. From our talks with Stencel, McGuinness, and Athas it is apparent that the more you are trained in every aspect of journalism, the more prepared you are to be a journalist in todays world. While the era of smokey news rooms and angry editiors with pork pie hats might be dying, journalism will remain a constant in society for years to come.