Pioneering the Wild West of Journalism

The Internet for journalists is similar to the wild, wild west for pioneers-- there are many unknowns and what the future may hold is a scary thought. After interviewing four successful editors, I have compiled their thoughts on where they think journalism is headed:

"There is no other industry in the world that enjoys covering bad things more than newspapers. Yes, there are serious challenges for big newspapers, but we [The Salem News] report on things you can’t get anywhere else—we’re so local, we’re still essentially the only game in town. Small local papers have a really solid niche.

Anyone that tells you they know where journalism is going is lying to you. People need to catch up to technology in their homes; online news sources need to learn how to make money from their product. I see newspapers going more towards a daily online and having print copies becoming more of a weekly thing. I think eventually we will be reading our news on an electronic tablet—but not for twenty or thirty years. That is at least a generation away because people’s habits will have to change."
Dave Olson, The Salem News


"People want community journalism—I don’t see that going anywhere. One of the things we’ve done is created a partnership with channel five in Boston. I think sharing with other outlets is possible and beneficial. It would also be nice if we could figure out a way to make some kind of revenue off the Internet."
Stephanie Silverstein, Hamilton-Wenham Chronicle


"Sadly, opining is taking the place of reporting. Television news generally is vapid, radio news is almost non-existent, and print news is under financial pressure. I see no reason to assume journalism will survive more than ten or fifteen years."
Eric Convey, Boston Business Journal


“For the average citizen it is too vital and too much work to find out what the real story is when it comes to news. That’s where a journalist comes in. A journalist provides that information to the public so that they don’t have to go out and find it on their own.

I see some kind of hybrid of print, web and television journalism emerging. There are always fads that will be replaced by other things. There will always be a need for accurate information because people need to know what’s going on in order to be able to make informed decisions. This will never change—the format will change—but there will always be a need for that information, which is good for journalists.”
Dan MacAlpine, Ipswich Chronicle


Maybe journalism is a dying art that will not survive the next fifteen years. Maybe journalism's outlook will involve a hybrid of media platforms. Maybe just the small local newspapers will be able to survive. Maybe journalism will transform into something no one could ever imagine. What is clear to me is that the future of journalism is murky and no one really knows where it is headed.

What do you think the future looks like for a journalist?