This is the archive blog of Journoz.Com, the Guide to Internet Information Sources for Ethical Australian Journalists. To view the main website, click here:
Archive:
May 27, 2005
State of the News Media 2005
The Project for Excellence in Journalism (http://www.journalism.org/) issued their first State of the News Media report last year. Now the 2005 report is online. State of the News Media 2005 (http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2005/index.asp) has nine sections. The overview section will give you a quick summary of the findings. Two trends may be worth noting :- There are now several models of journalism, and the trajectory increasingly is toward those that are faster, looser, and cheaper. This is worrying since it claims the traditional journalistic verification of facts is giving way to "a new journalism of assertion, where information is offered with little time and little attempt to independently verify its veracity". Talk shows and cable TV have been the main drivers for this. Blogs also come in for a pasting in that they publish assertions and expect other bloggers to keep them honest by correcting any errors after the event.
- To adapt, journalism may have to move in the direction of making its work more transparent and more expert, and of widening the scope of its searchlight. According to the report, news organisations "may have to document their reporting process more openly so that audiences can decide for themselves whether to trust it."
Email this