Local news dominance

Welcome to the future. It's an exciting time to be a journalist, specifically a journalism student. As students we're among the first to include the ever-expanding world of online journalism in our curriculum. The majority of professional guest speakers that visit our classes say that learning to write and produce online content is vital. It's vital, they say, because we're on the cusp of a revolution.

It's an exciting time because the future is unknown. It's a brave new world chock full of technological advancements. Will these advancements lead to the demise of traditional news? If so, when?

This is a touchy subject for me. In past posts I've stated that I wasn't quick to jump on the internet bandwagon, even though it's pretty much the sole source of my news. My parents and grandparents still read the newspaper, like most others. Why would they do that? Don't they realize that newspapers cost money? Hell, they're paying for internet access anyways, they might as well take advantage of all it has to offer.

Technology is only going to make access easier and quicker. A guest speaker said something today that made me wonder about the possibilities. Brian Purdy, senior vice president of marketing management for Infinity broadcasting in Dallas, has connections at Nokia. He said that technology is already available to integrate everything to your cell phone. All audio and video capabilities are on the phone, and at night you'll be able to plug your phone into your hi-definition television along with a keyboard and choose content to take along with you. This notion blew my mind.

However, Professor Utsler was quick to point out one fact that throws a wrench in the whole operation. Newspapers are the best at breaking news and at finding leads. Television news stations rarely break news, and I learned from interning at KSNT that much of those stories are based on newspaper articles. And look at internet news sites. The stories featured on those sites are taken from print publications, mostly local. I think that if new media outlets are to take over there needs to be a LOCAL print outlet that is entirely online. That's the only way to have the cohesion of a standard newsroom in order to continue providing breaking news and quality content. Then and only then will the internet take over, but as of now sites have no allegiance because they don't localize like newspapers do.