Journalism here to stay

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on September 14, 2007 at 10:30 AM

David Callaway, long-time reporter who now writes for MarketWatch.com, compares the newspaper industry to the stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has had its up and downs, its crises and crashes, but its level is still more than six times what it was 20 years ago.

So goes for the newspaper industry. “Back in 1987, it was widely assumed that newspapers were dying,” Callaway wrote. With new fax machines that could deliver quick and tailored news, the situation didn’t look good.

The news industry has changed since then. Users are generating content and their favorite stories become top picks on news sites. Callaway notes that “at one of the sites Wednesday afternoon, the lead story was a video from YouTube headlined "Leave Britney Alone." Another site led with "How to hide beer in the office."

But although this is ‘news’ nowadays, the other stories haven’t disappeared. The platforms have changed, but the news is still up for grabs.

“As long as there are Enrons and WorldComs out there; hedge funds and pyramid schemes; crimes, wars and corrupt leaders, there will be journalists who will find platforms to report on them -- whatever the technology,” said Callaway.

“It's still a bull market for those who can write a sentence and tell a story and know how to do it across the mediums of print, Web, audio, video and mobile. The stories are there for the taking.”

Journalism isn’t gone.

Source: MarketWach.com