Personalized News

The news market is saturated right now. Citizens have a plethora of options to turn to on how they can get their daily news- if they even want it at all. The statistic provided by the Morris Communication Company that the number of people that need news on a daily basis has declined by six percent from 1995-2005 is startling. Newspaper circulation has been steadily decreasing in the last five years, and people are increasingly turning to the Internet to provide them with news and sports coverage.
On my flight back home for winter break, I sat next to a man who instantly frowned when he learned I was a journalism major. He told me I was too honest and nice to be a journalist. He pretty much scoffed at me when he learned I wanted to write for a newspaper. He told me professional reporters are “a thing of the past,” and that “nobody has time for newspapers” and in a way, he is right. The same study by Morris showed the amount of time people spend reading a newspaper has decreased. Intrigued by his accusations I asked him how he got his news. His response was the Internet. More precisely: washingtonpost.com and nytimes.com. I smiled inside. How do you think the stories got there, I innocently asked. Some one had to write them.
This is the future of the media. Online newspapers that allow readers to customize what news they receive. Readers will pick and chose what type of news they receive, and how often they receive it. Everything will be customizable according to each persons’ needs. As I check my Gmail account I am hit with a banner reading: “New! Google services will now be more personalized with Google accounts.” Online news outlets need to become more personalized. But there is one major catch: online newspapers need to learn how to produce revenue. I am not sure how to do it, but it must be done.

Technological advancements have changed how people want and expect their news. People want news instantly but still expect it to be completely accurate. The problem with covering an event or disaster live is there is still much to learn about what actually occurred. It is impossible for a reporter to know the exact cause and effect of an event. Coverage is going to have to become quicker but accuracy cannot be comprised for quickness. Media outlets are going to need to send a team of reporters to cover news, and they need to work together collectively to accurately and quickly report the news.

Collaboration and convergence are key components to the future of journalism. A reporter will not just be expected to write a story for the next day’s paper-but he or she will also need to write a quick blurb and post it online, and write a script for broadcast. People use various media outlets and a journalist must be adaptive to provide news for the different venues.

Internet, cable, radio, satellite, text messages, blogs and newspapers all provide news. In my opinion, bloggerss are journalists biggest competitor-but we are going to have to learn to coexist. As a statehouse reporter I check various blogs on a daily basis-not for facts, but for possible story ideas. Citizen journalism lacks basic journalism principles-most notably objectivity and verification. Verification is what gives the media credibility. And according to Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, “in the end, the discipline of verification is what separates journalism from entertainment, propaganda, fiction, or art.” Citizens will eventually figure out that blogs are often inaccurate and have a hidden agenda. Journalist need to step up in the role as informer and educator. We need to re-establish ourselves as credible sources and regain our professional status. At the same time, the media industry must change and adapt to their customers’ needs and expectations. Agenda setting is an important role, but journalists must also keep a pulse on what people want.

People still turn to journalists for news as Downie and Kaiser pointed out in News about the News: “…in the traumatic days that followed the terrorists attacks in September 2001, when the best newspapers published extraordinary editions filled with detailed reporting, emotion and explanation.” Our role as educators will persevere in the future, and we need to continue to give people not just what they need to know but why they need to know it, how it affects them personally.

Anybody can claim they are journalist. There is no test, no secret handshake and no official documentation needed to have the title journalist. Journalists are facing increasing pressure from all the different venues and are becoming too entertainment oriented. Verification and objectivity need to stay the driving force of journalism. Journalists need to provide context, and articles need to focus not only on what happened, but why it happened, what will happened next and the possible consequences. Journalists have a rocky road ahead of them, but I am optimistic. Last semester I read this passage from a book by Harrington: “..each person, famous or obscure, is at once ordinary and extraordinary in his own way. My job is to discover those ways.” For me, this embodies what a journalist should strive to achieve. Journalists need go beyond the surface of news and dig deep into issues.