Future of journalism uncertain
Many journalism majors sat on the edge of their seats when four professional journalists told them that the journalism field is in trouble on Wednesday.
With newspapers cutting their staffs, fewer workers having to do more work and online media not providing as much revenue as journalists would like, the four journalists talked to students, faculty and the community about the future of journalism.
Jeffery Lynch, the dean for Arts and Humanities, hosted “The Future of Journalism” event. This is just one in a series of arts and humanities lectures.
“The future of journalism is strong,” Bryan Murley, the multimedia journalism professor at Eastern said. “The concern is how to pay for it.”
One problem the news industry is facing, Murley said, is that anyone can be a journalist, by writing his or her own blog or by using Facebook or Twitter to communicate news. More and more people are getting their news from these “citizen journalists” compared to news organizations.
Murley also said the newspaper audience is shrinking because people have so many other different outlets to choose from in getting their news-what with radio, television, the internet.
More traditional media, such as television or newspaper, is becoming more for the older audience.
“Not everyone reads the news,” Murley said. “The network 6 o’clock news, CBS evening news, your audience is shrinking because they’re all dying. They’re all getting old.”
Lynch, a smile creeping on his face, laughed at Murley’s comment.
“Yes, I watch it every night,” he joked. But then he followed up with a serious question. “Why do we want to go online?”
Will Sullivan, the interactive director at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, said people are drawn to the internet because it is fast and it is immediate. It will appear in front of your eyes after the click of a button.
“I think life’s speeding up and the newspaper, by the time it’s printed, it’s a day old,” Sullivan from said.
Nancy Foreman, the executive producer of WCIA-TV 3 in Champaign Urbana, also believes that the internet is an important asset in journalism, especially to younger generations. They have a broadcast that airs online only at 7 p.m.
Many readers today are also more interested in gossip and celebrity news than what is serious, according to John Foreman, the publisher of the News-Gazette in Champaign-Urbana.
“People stop in their day to hear a golfer talk about how he wasn’t going to havProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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affairs anymore,” he said. “There’s something wrong with the world when one guy standing up and says ‘aw I promise to be good next time’ is big news.”
Most Eastern journalism majors will graduate with an understanding that their field is in a transition. No one knows for sure what is going to happen to the industry and how financially the field will work out. But John Foreman said there is a bright side.
Journalism graduates do not cost as much as journalists who have been working for more than 25 years. And in an industry that is struggling with money, journalism graduates who are paid less will have an advantage.
“You don’t get into it to get rich,” Lynch said. “You do it because you love it.”
Sam Sottosanto can be reached at 581-7942 or
