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The Future of Quality Journalism: From The Experts (Videos)

The Quality Journalism in the Digital Age Conference on April 10 was definitely a Friday well spent. Hosted by the Rutgers School of Communication and Information, media professionals, academics, content providers, photojournalists and leaders in the nonprofit world shared their views about the changing landscape and its future as they see and live it. We also learned about their provocative work and research.

The day was open to the public at no cost –  anyone interested was invited. I had the opportunity to chat with a TV producer for the “CBS Evening News” and the executive producer of “NJ TV News with Mary Alice Williams“. You can hear both of their presentations at the links below in Parts 2 and 3. The day wrapped up with a lovely evening reception at The Rutgers Club where I spoke with a sharp enthusiastic Rutgers student about Instagram and Pinterest and with a Syracuse University grad (my alma mater) who is a political and economic reporter for Millennial, a digital magazine.digital media devices

You can access all four sessions at the following links:

Part 1:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OQNdhEYRvo

Part 2:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90qpEZPjYaQ

Part 3:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqvLd-H2Ca4

Part 4:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTyzXhJE64U

 

Here are a few takeaways:

  • Newsrooms are a public good – the best hope is public support and engaging consumers. An example is NJ News Commons.
  • Find new sources of funding to help sustain journalism as The Washington Post did when the founder of Amazon.com Jeff Bezos took ownership.
  • Internalize quality journalism as a VALUE and in PRACTICE. Quality journalism comes with a cost.
  • The number of copy/layout editors at U.S. daily newspapers has declined drastically. In 2006 there were 10,424; in 2014 there were 4,722.
  • Many reporters now need multimedia skills since they’re required to shoot-write-edit-report their own stories.
  • Long form journalism is becoming more popular.
  • Trustworthiness is key for consumers of news.
  • Even with all the disturbances, much of what newspaper reporters do today they were doing 30 years ago.
  • Social media has helped build audiences for those outlets with limited resources.

Thank you Phil Napoli @pmnapoli, Katie McCollough @kemcco and Rutgers @MPIIRutgers for organizing an insightful important conference.

What do you think the future of journalism holds?

 

 

 

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Hear All About It,The Latest News About The News: April 10 at Rutgers University

Television news studioOn Friday, April 10 Rutgers University’s Journalism & Media Studies Department is hosting a free conference that’s open to the public Quality Journalism in the Digital Age to celebrate it’s 40th anniversary. Media professionals from NBC News, CBS News, NJ Advance Media and a number of university journalism professors will be among the more than 15 speakers.

A recent Pew Research Study shows that with even with the popularity of social media and the myriad of sources consumers can turn to for news, local TV news tops the list as the go-to source for residents.

I found that really interesting and wouldn’t have thought that to be the case.

The study’s results and relevance for New Jersey residents are explained by Philip M. Napoli, a professor of journalism and media studies at Rutgers, in the March 14, 2015  Nieman Journalism Lab’s Weekly Digest.

New Jerseyans like myself get most broadcast news from New York City and Philadelphia based stations, two of the top five media markets in the country. The stations do report NJ news but much of it is NYC or Philly focused.

It’s actually great on one hand since we have a lot of media options but on the other hand it’s not so great if local TV news is a primary source for residents’ news since we have a tiny number of NJ TV news organizations based in NJ.

Several local newspapers, websites and radio stations originate in New Jersey but not local TV. As the article explains, “The only city in New Jersey that has a small cluster of local TV stations to call its own is Atlantic City. For the rest of New Jersey, local TV news means news originating from New York or Philadelphia, or from a statewide cable news network such as News 12 New Jersey.”

The timely topic of local news is among those that will be addressed at the April conference. The others are:

  • What does the notion of quality journalism mean in the contemporary media environment?
  • Has the definition been changing over time?
  • How should we go about measuring quality journalism?
  • What are the most prominent challenges and opportunities associated with producing and sustaining quality journalism in the contemporary media environment?

With the fast changing media landscape it will undoubtedly be a lively informative discussion.