A major study, conducted by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, entitled “The State of the News Media,” takes a multi-faceted look into where the news media stands in early 2005, and where it might be headed.
Five major trends were cited as the takeaways from the world of the media, 2004:
* There are now several models of journalism, and the trajectory increasingly is toward those that are faster, looser, and cheaper.* The rise in partisanship of news consumption and the notion that people have retreated to their ideological corners for news has been widely exaggerated.
* To adapt, journalism may have to move in the direction of making its work more transparent and more expert, and of widening the scope of its searchlight.
* Despite the new demands, there is more evidence than ever that the mainstream media are investing only cautiously in building new audiences.
* The three broadcast network news divisions face their most important moment of transition in decades.
A quick look through the reported trends provides an excellent snapshot of the state of the amorphous and ever-widening concept of media. In essence, the trends make sense in that they reflect everything that I’ve seen and heard over the last year.
The following quote reveals a succinct description of the currently raging blogs vs. journalism debate:
The traditional press model - the journalism of verification - is one in which journalists are concerned first with trying to substantiate facts. It has ceded ground for years on talk shows and cable to a new journalism of assertion, where information is offered with little time and little attempt to independently verify its veracity.
And even more crystallized:
Blogs helped unmask errors at CBS, but also spread the unfounded conspiracy theory that the GOP stole the presidential election in Ohio.
This points toward the argument that quality content is quality content as quality journalism is quality journalism, no matter where it turns up or whatever form it takes. Of course, the reverse is just as true.
Analysis of news coverage – particularly of the biggest stories of 2004 – again reveals some interesting tid-bits that are certainly food for thought.
Two stories dominated the year, the war in Iraq and the election, and both were caught in the maelstrom of debate over media bias.
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