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Convention keynote speaker Jeff Jarvis, Buzzmachine.com blogger, media columnist for The Guardian and author of "What Would Google Do" took some time out of his Saturday to talk to SAJAforum about the future of
journalism and the evolution of the news business.
What is the role of
professional news organizations of the future?
Collaboration and support—helping people out. They still need to report, especially
things others don’t like such as state house coverage. But in terms of how they
collaborate with larger networks, they can aggregate, curate (find the best),
link, sell ads financially, train people and provide all kinds of value.
Is there space for
journalists in the post-twitter world?
Yes. The old assumptions are no longer
valid - that it is not news until we tell the world. We can’t assume that news is only news when it comes from a
newsroom, we should see it as an opportunity. You should provide context, background, vetting but also
don’t assume that the journalist has to be the only one to communicate.
How do you ensure
that all sections of society are equally represented?
The issue of coverage is important, and the danger is we are
at risk at redlining (people in
poorer towns won’t get coverage).
Potentially I see the same thing enforced in hyper local coverage
(because of the digital divide). But in the long run, the tools are easy and expensive,
making it easy for communities to report themselves. We have to see if the
community cares about the knowledge.
If they don’t what do we do about that? It might be that coverage be
charitably supported or be undertaken by a community group. We may have to step
in and help with reporting.
What do you think of
public funding for journalism?
That makes me allergic as an American. Certainly the BBC works, but I think it
is dangerous to have the government involved in speech. And I don’t think its necessary,
especially now when everyone is being the press. The BBC has two channels - out of the millions of people out
there, whom do we support? And who
decides?
In America, government supported media is small. We have more of a traditional reflex of
supporting news through foundation and I think that’s healthy. Whereas in
Europe, when you get people to contribute through foundations, they don’t have
the same reflex because the government takes care funding organizations. So I
think in a weird way we are in a better position.
Spot.Us has a good platform so independents can support
journalism. Is it successful? It’s
too new to tell.
Is there a role for
the foreign correspondent?
Yes, but doesn’t always have to happen in the country. You understand what the issues are, you
know where to look, and who to call.
An example is the Global Voices venture. At Harvard, volunteers adopt a country and be a bridge
blogger. So adopt a country, add
value (reporting), add perspective, ask questions an American will ask, but
with a wealth of information.
Should young journalists
continue enrolling in journalism school?
You are the guys who are going to reinvent journalism and
save it.
Students are not resistant to change. You don’t have to
browbeat them into blogging. They
bring in the culture. They have an
experience with an understanding of the media that older journalists just don’t
have.
The reason I chose to come teach in journalism is because it
allowed me to do interesting stuff.
But so much change is needed, it will happen from this wellspring. I
chose to teach to see that happen.
Will journalism make
money?
That, I don’t
know.
I believe that most journalism will be for profit, and it
will operate at scale. There are
areas that will be hard to support, so the question is whether there will be enough
charitable support.
How does journalism
of the future work?
Journalists can’t
afford to do what everybody else is doing anymore—send someone to cover the
same convention that many others are covering. Commodity journalism is not useful and no one can afford it. There needs to be more quality, so add value to what
exists. It is a very complementary
role.
So, become more specialized, add to the existing world, and
be generous to it, link out to it.
And be open, that’s how you get talked about.
-- By Gayathri Vaidyanathan, recent graduate of Columbia University.
Photo by Preston Merchant
