It is known by now that the US newspaper industry is in a turbulent state, as print circulation decreases and ad revenue goes down. As newspapers downsize and more focus is put on Web-based news sources, the future of broadcast journalism may be in jeopardy, according to Variety magazine's Brian Lowry.

Broadcast media frequently use newspaper stories as their sources, sometimes not even crediting them, according to Lowry. But what they fail to realize at this stage is that what happens to the newspaper industry might have an impact on them; something that Lowry calls the "domino effect".  

"The thinness in assembling TV and radio news -- and the manner in which they use newspapers as de facto tip sheets and newsgathering surrogates -- has long been one of broadcasting's dirty little secrets," he said.

In today's changing world, news sources do not only include newspaper reporters but also bloggers, websites and citizen journalists.

"Although a few Web-based enterprises have begun to invest in original reporting, most are satisfied to engage in opinion and let conventional news outfits do the heavy lifting," he said.

Broadcast media is seeing declining audience figures and has had to come up with money-saving solutions. One way to do that has been to use citizen journalists, who will be paid a given fee for their contribution.

"Stations will survive, but the mind boggles at the sources from which they'll derive news as the dominos topple. In-depth and investigative reporting are already dwindling, creating an information stream that's often a mile wide and an inch deep," Lowry said.

Source: Variety