The Future of News

The future of news has come into question as of late. Newspaper readership has dwindled since the turn the century when new technology began pumping out alternative media outlets the way CBS pumps out new Survivor seasons. "Traditional journalism's" fall from grace, with newsroom cutbacks and diminished coverage, not only happened comprehensively, but also really quickly. If you had told me back in 2003 that in ten years the majority of Americans would be getting news from tweets in their twitter account, I would probably have imagined some Hitchcock-like world where birds have taken over the press. 

But evolution isn't always bad, is it? It's not that Americans have become disinterested with the news, it's just the way they choose to consume it has changed. The problems occur when people are only exposed to quick, 30 second snippets and clips of news, which tend to distort or over exaggerate the issues. So in order to keep the consumer informed, journalists must be able to provide both quality and quantity. Video clips should be comprehensive enough to give the issue the weight it deserves. Reporters can also break down large, complicated stories into a stream of compressed tweets, which can be shared with their followers. Interaction is another huge advantage that journalists didn't have in the past. By providing ways for consumers to interact in the news process, people will have a greater interest in the news.

We won't always know what the future of news will look like. But there will always be a market for stories--for the drama of news. With that in mind, the future of news reporting is bright.