Opinion: A Power shift in the media

Posted by Lauren Drablier on October 13, 2008 at 9:38 AM

According to Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times, there is a shift in the balance-of-power of journalism; the power is shifting in favor of new media. Barber believes the "mainstream press lost touch with its audience at the very moment when technology, via the Internet, was dramatically lowering the barriers to entry."

According to Barber, "the imperial status of the mainstream media - the television networks, big metropolitan dailies and lofty commentators - has been shaken. The lay-offs of hundreds of US newspaper journalists this summer are a symptom of a wider malaise."

He continued, "we are witnessing a shift in the balance of power towards new media, with wholesale repercussions for the practice of journalism."

The change, according to Barber, was evident at the Democratic national convention in Denver when bloggers were seated in some of the "much-coveted" seats inside the hall. Bloggers also set up a 9,000 square-foot structure devoted to new media.

Barber sites Michael Elliot, editor of Time's international edition, when discussing the decline in US journalism, which he believes "can be summed up thus: a broken business model overly reliant on classified advertising revenue that has now moved online; a mistaken notion that post-1945 newspaper staffs of 800-plus journalists were the norm rather than a historical aberration; and, crucially, a stultifying failure to innovate because of the lack of competition."

In Barber's opinion "in the new world of citizen journalism, the role of the trained journalist as trusted intermediary no longer holds. Perhaps there is no such thing as a neutral filter or objective truth, and (print) journalists were imposters to suggest as much."

He believes that "the line between news reporting and comment is becoming increasingly blurred."

However, on a more positive note, he feels that there are many opportunities for success and growth. Barber believes that it must start with a "renewed focus on local news; a more sophisticated blend of online and print content; and a more adventurous approach to what readers and viewers want, particularly younger ones."

Sources: journalism.co.uk, Financial Times