An episode of Portlandia included a sketch where a local paper was bought out by a blog.
Some of the lines are:
- They probably read every fifth word... so just make it those five words.
- When you make things Top 10 automatically it makes it easy enough for people to digest it.
- People don't read articles anymore and we don't want to provide people things don't care about.
Do you think the future of journalism will be similar?
I'm not sure if my vision of journalism's future will look exactly like this, and I definitely hope not - the separation between the news aspect and business aspect of a media organization is too important in my mind to be compromised. But you can already see the signs of making news more "digestable," from websites like BuzzFeed, that may signal a decline in reception to more traditional forms of news articles. As far as how this would affect local news, I would be worried what is left of news staffs may all but disappear.
ReplyDeleteI certainly hope this is not the future of journalism. Short, digestible stories will probably become more and more popular, but I think there will still be a place for good reporting and hard news. This probably won’t be good for local news and smaller publications since I would expect hard news to be dominated by larger, national publications. The hard news stories may not be read as often as easy to digest stories, but they are the real purpose of journalism. If this is the future I don’t see what the difference would be between journalism and entertainment.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, LOVE Portlandia. But that doesn't take away from the fact that I would be horrified if the future of journalism looked this way. I understand that the public needs short and sweet stories with such a fast-paced society, but I treasure good reporting being put on display, and for this reason I am a huge fan of long-form journalism. Even when covering the website Buzzfeed for my analysis, I made a point to take notice of the long-form section they provide, so out of character with their many listicles, etc. I appreciate that even in a world where quick, more digestible news is made readily available, there is still the option of longer more detailed pieces at our disposal.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else has stated, I hope journalism in the future is not relegated to just short pieces in order to provide quick reads for consumers. While I agree many people simply don't have the time to read comprehensive pieces anymore; I think there is still an audience for long pieces. For me personally, two of my favorite writers -- Bill Simmons and Peter King -- are known for their long columns, but still possess a great following. I also enjoy viewing blogs such as The Big Lead and Deadspin which provide information in a condensed format that is easier for people to view. I strongly believe there is still an audience for both pieces of written journalism so I hope that long form pieces aren't phased out in the future in order to cater to providing consumers with information that is short and easy to view and decipher.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that journalism will become like this. As mentioned, I feel that there is still a place for long-form journalism and that it is still very much appreciated. I love to read in-depth articles about the things I care about. I will however admit that I do not always read a news article in its entirety; if I'm in a crunch I will read up until I feel that I have received enough information to understand what is going on.
ReplyDeleteIt is extremely frightening to think that the future of journalism could lie in Top 10 lists. While I do not believe that the future is so dismal, I do think that print journalism has a tough road ahead. I think there will still be long-form articles online and in some magazines and niche publications, but the major audiences are now online and on television. In short, I believe that online and broadcast journalism have bright futures, but I am worried about print publications. When I am in a huge rush I do not always read a story in its entirety, but I would like the think that there are people out there that still respect true journalism and are interested in hearing the full story.
ReplyDeleteWhile the future of journalism in uncertain, I don't think it will end up like this. There will always be a need for news, even if the way that people access that news changes. Online journalism certainly has a future. The Buzzfeed model may become more popular, but I think there will always be a thirst for news and information about what is happening in the world.
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