The Opportunities as Journalism Confronts Digital
Most Canadians live in a city with a local newspaper owned by Postmedia. In Edmonton, where I grew up, I have seen it gut the Edmonton Journal from its revered status as one of the best newspapers in the country (earning it the first Pulitzer awarded outside of the United States), to a publication filled with more advertisements and wire service content than local news. And as it reduces its local content, readers will turn elsewhere to find information about their community, causing Postmedia to make further operational cuts. It’s a vicious cycle that leads readers without access to accurate and timely information about their community.
The story isn’t new. Digital is killing traditional journalism in North America and it’s unlikely that it will survive in its current form much longer.
However, it’s not all bad. The digital revolution is certainly overthrowing traditional forms of journalism, but in its place, it’s opening up new opportunities that can lead to better, more relevant journalism.
That’s the message from the recent issue of the Columbia Journalism Review, which explores media innovation in the digital age. In it, you’ll read the challenges and prospects journalists must address to remain viable in the digital age, as well as case studies and insights on the future. Here are pieces I recommend:
- Print is Dead. Long Live Print. -- Michael Rosenwald dives deeper into the assumptions made about print and digital, and how publications should move to digital.
- Can the Digital Revolution Save Indian Journalism? -- Lakshmi Chaudhry explores the booming media entrepreneurism startup community in India, and how it’s pushing the limits of free expression.
- The Revolution at The Washington Post -- Kyle Pope interviews Shailesh Prakash and Joey Marburger of The Washington Post, one of American journalism’s greatest brands that has undergone dramatic transformation to remain relevant in the digital age (and after being bought by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos).