Comments on: Is Social Media Forcing the End of Investigative Journalism?

By: Jenn

Jenn — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 19:32:53 +0000

I think you’re missing the point a little bit. The quality of news has always been questionable. It’s the media mentality of the few who know best choosing the stories to report on for the masses that leads people to pursue alternative sources for news. It’s not about the end of investigative journalism, but the beginning of an end user driven media era.

By: Jenn

Jenn — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 18:32:53 +0000

I think you're missing the point a little bit. The quality of news has always been questionable. It's the media mentality of the few who know best choosing the stories to report on for the masses that leads people to pursue alternative sources for news. It's not about the end of investigative journalism, but the beginning of an end user driven media era.

By: Charlie

Charlie — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:59:18 +0000

Who knows, maybe some new kind of entity will crop up that we wouldn’t recognize as anything quite like a newspaper, specializing in investigative journalism, with a new business model to support itself.

It you’re the source of new, important information, that’s much more attractive to readers/listeners/viewers than just being part of a vast echo chamber.

By: Mike Keliher

Mike Keliher — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:27:34 +0000

Good journalism - and/or the need for it - will never, ever die. Sure, there will cuts and changes and turbulence, and maybe the business will never be the same. Maybe there are *too many* people getting paid to practice professional journalism right now. And you know what? Not all of it’s good. I could rant all day long about how some (SOME, not all) journalism, especially on TV, needs some serious help.

The decrease in salaries or in the number of people receiving those salaries is rough for those people and their families, but beyond that, I think this is a largely overblown issue. We’ll see the pendulum swing a bit away from what most people call “real journalism” toward things like blogs and podcasts and such. And then we’ll hit a time when people say, “Wait, where the hell is the real journalism?”

And the Times will start hiring again.

By: Charlie

Charlie — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 19:59:18 +0000

Who knows, maybe some new kind of entity will crop up that we wouldn't recognize as anything quite like a newspaper, specializing in investigative journalism, with a new business model to support itself.

It you're the source of new, important information, that's much more attractive to readers/listeners/viewers than just being part of a vast echo chamber.

By: Mike Keliher

Mike Keliher — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 19:27:34 +0000

Good journalism - and/or the need for it - will never, ever die. Sure, there will cuts and changes and turbulence, and maybe the business will never be the same. Maybe there are *too many* people getting paid to practice professional journalism right now. And you know what? Not all of it's good. I could rant all day long about how some (SOME, not all) journalism, especially on TV, needs some serious help.

The decrease in salaries or in the number of people receiving those salaries is rough for those people and their families, but beyond that, I think this is a largely overblown issue. We'll see the pendulum swing a bit away from what most people call “real journalism” toward things like blogs and podcasts and such. And then we'll hit a time when people say, “Wait, where the hell is the real journalism?”

And the Times will start hiring again.