When considering what the face of the next generation of the media will look like, one must consider several elements. What topics will be news? What sort of subject matter will be considered news? How will this media be distributed? How will this new media be funded? All complex issues that shall, no doubt, be resolved over time.
First, what is news? The kinds of topics we will see will not be dissimilar to the ones we focus on today, for instance evolving technology with the close of the digital divide, conversion of politics and technology and how that impacts the public, and how new media adjusts to meet the interests of consumers.
Distribution of media in the future will certainly be a completely different beast from that of today. The platforms we will use will be, perhaps, countless. The developed world is quickly becoming hungry consumers of digital media. News, corporate, and political Web sites along with Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube are already proving wildly successful. Without a doubt these will continue to grow in popularity and ease of use to become mainstream delivery channels of media to eyes and ears of the public. Old media outlets (e.g. newspapers, radio, TV) will still exist, but the new media will be the principal source with modern and younger generations. As technology allows, the screens on which consumers receive content will become smaller and smaller. In the near future the world may rely less on television sets and radios in cars and homes, but rather will access this content on the go via media devices not unlike the iPhone of today. Screens will be small and content will be custom-tailored to diverse, segmented audiences.
Finally, the ways we will promote and fund media will be primarily through new media outlets: Web and cell phone advertising, etc. With innovations like the iPhone, which functions as not only a phone but also as a device used to send e-mail, connect to the Internet, listen to music, and share pictures, people are able to perform multiple tasks from a single device. Advertisers must reach people through the medium they most frequently use, which recent history has proven is mobile phones. This relationship between ever-evolving technology and the public's mobility is the certain future of media as future generations will come to know it.