Mainstream Media: The MSM cannot fix journalism. It is out of touch with its readers/viewers. It has become complacent regarding those in power. Journalists and editors have not kept up with the latest innovations. Advertisers are running for the hills or asking for more exposure, further blurring the lines between their ads and journalistic content.

Worse still, even some of the 'save mainstream journalism' ideas out there are not well received.  

Some suggest that mainstream media rediscover its local roots and report likewise. But, exemplified by Knight Ridder's recent troubles, this may prove null advice.

New York University Journalism Professor Jay Rosen on HuffingtonPost writes that the nationwide newspaper company should sell its papers off separately to companies or trusts in their own regions. But even before he lists his reasons for this argument, he says that this is a highly unlikely situation, a view supported by Buzz Machine's Jeff Jarvis.

Perhaps the article's most notable argument against the local sale of KR's papers is the scathing comment about local journalism: "Most small town newspapers today... cowtow to local businessmen, cozy up to the local chamber of commerce, get told what to do by larger advertisers, and worst of all they care not one whit for the news coverage itself."

Another idea to save mainstream journalism is the idea of transparency in the newsroom, opening itself up to its readers. Steven A. Smith, editor of the Spokane, Washington Spokesman-Review describes his paper's three-year efforts to do just that at PressThink.

Smith's paper allows readers to attend its daily news meetings and will soon be launching a Webscast of its morning and afternoon meetings so that readers can chime in with their own suggestions. He says that "speaking directly to readers with a genuine openess actually enhances credibility."  

But his papers ideas have also received much criticism; the idea of the "open newsroom will somehow cede control of "professional" journalism to the mob."

Gene Weingarten at the Washington Post disagrees wholeheartedly with the idea of the "transparent newsroom," opining that, although circulations are declining, journalists need to keep their distance from their readers; "Editors seem to believe that the way to attract more readers is to be nicer and more responsive to them, reversing a hallowed, hundred-year tradition in which journalists treated readers like fungi."

Citizen Journalism: CitJ cannot fix journalism. Although most participants in the evolving online "news conversation" are those that have been "treated like fungi" by their mainstream counterparts, the fact is that they still depend on traditional journalists to do the real journalism dirty work that begins the conversation.

Most of these people have day jobs that eat up the time needed to report, not to mention no background in journalism. They do have an opinion, which can sometimes add value to the news aftermath. They also have digital cameras and cell phones that capture breaking news as it happens which have already and will undoubtedly continue to provide stunning contributions to the documentation of history.

But to think that the "guys in the pajamas" could replace over a century of well-funded, objective investigative journalism is ludicrous.

Even hardcore proponents of citizen journalism like Dan Gillmor argue that "Big Media" are still necessary.

Still, there are those that are trying. Craig Newmark, founder of the newspaper classified ad destroyer Craigslist, has long been rumored to be toying with the idea of a citizen journalism project. Most recently in the Guardian, Newmark said, "The American public has lost a lot of trust in conventional newspaper mechanisms. Mechanisms are now being developed online to correct that."

Although he didn't give any specific details, Newmark alluded to his ideas that would "let readers decide what the major news stories would be."

If this paraphrase from the Guardian means what it sounds like, Newmark is barking up the wrong tree.

Look what happened in Chile when a struggling newspaper undertook a like project by gauging what stories to follow via the number of clicks articles received on its website. Not surprisingly, the paper quickly transformed into a tabloid as most people are interested in gossip, entertainment and celebrities.

Leaving the news open to everyone is certainly not the answer journalism is looking for.

Internet Companies: Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, etc. cannot fix journalism They were not born as producers of journalism and it will never be their forte. Their principal functions are technological, a fact that would only dilute any attempts at journalism, as is witnessed with their news aggregators.

GoogleNews and YahooNews are two of the most popular news sites on the Web. But they have nothing to do with original content. Instead, they compile content from major news organizations, and now blogs, onto one homepage, frequently mixing news from different media companies. They are, like citizen journalists; dependent on the MSM.

Microsoft paired long ago with broadcast station NBC to create what is now the Web's most popular news site, MSNBC.com.  But the content on the website comes mostly from NBC's services, its partnership with WashingtonPost/Newsweek and news agencies. Through the partnership, Microsoft can post content on its web portal and services such as messenger and email without actually having to "do journalism."

Yahoo is the best example of an Internet-based company trying to expand into original journalistic content. Most now recognize Yahoo as a media company instead of just the search engine and web portal it started out as. But its recent ventures into journalism leave much to be desired. 

Hiring war photojournalist Kevin Sites to travel the world's "hot zones" chatting with locals affected by conflict and posting images, video and articles on a website is a worthy idea, one which could help open some people's eyes to the realities of battle. But it is not exactly journalism.

The ephemeral manner in which Sites visits these places leaves no time for deep investigation or understanding of a conflict, not to mention the basic background knowledge that a journalists needs to ask informed questions. Although he may be risking much by visiting such "hot" areas of the world, Sites' product is more "journo-tainment" than journalism.

What's to be done?: These three sides of the media world may not be able to fix journalism by themselves. But, according to journalist, professor and blogger Leonard Witt, working together, they have a great chance:

"Academics, critics, the industry, journalists and citizens must work collectively to save quality journalism. Unfortunately, right now each seems to think the other is incompetent or clueless. Journalists think academics have no sense in how the real world works. Citizens, if the polls are correct, lump journalists with used car salespeople. Journalists think of themselves as the professionals and their audiences, if they think of them at all, as totally ignorant of how journalism works. On the industry side, corporate ownership is being vilified and strong family ownership—think Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. of The New York Times-- are taking it on the chin too.

What's really crazy about all that animosity is that the majority of all the constituent groups want the same thing--sustainable journalism. So what if we all actually grabbed hold of the same rope and pulled in the same direction. We might be able to pull journalism, which is spinning its wheels, out of its present quagmire."

In this posting, under Witt's general term, 'the industry,' I've thrown Internet companies into the mix because technology is more intertwined with journalism than ever before. Not only will techies continue to develop original content, but Internet companies will provide the pipe that will one day be the world's foremost medium for news gathering and dissemination. It is through them or with them that sustainable business models will be developed. It is with their help that journalists will reach their audience and vice versa.

Their technology also creates opportunities for journalists, such as using GoogleEarth to help their readers locate events, and interactive multimedia projects that offer journalists various styles of reporting and readers various means of consuming and understanding news. Journalists can distribute their reporting through means other than the mainstream media, namely blogs, as this example of a well-known blogger hiring two investigative journalists.

In fixing journalism, more innovations like these will surface. The MSM will reform itself, realizing that news is no longer what they choose it to be nor a top-down model. Citizens will regain their faith in and give feedback to journalists about their work, realizing that for all of their faults, they still are professionals. And Internet companies will contribute the devices and resources that will enrich journalism and conversely, democracy.   

Journalism's core purpose will not change.  But its practice is already undergoing a radical reformation.

Sources: HuffingtonPost, BuzzMachine, PressThink, Washington Post, Bayosphere, The Guardian, PJNet Today (Witt)

ps. Here's an idea of what Craig has in mind: Craigblog