Revamping journalism?

   Here’s some potential heresy for anyone with a long-standing grounding in print journalism and a general disdain for us IT dweebs.

   Journalism should no longer be about the end product: print news.  I know the market will continue to exist for years and decades, but we all know it is declining and I challenge anyone to prove beyond a shadow of doubt that it will be reversed.  Go ahead and work on that…the rest of can focus on the real future.  The synthesis of pieces of data, coupled with context is the real basis of journalism.  No, I have never written a news article in my life and, no, I won’t pretend to think the processes and dedication are easy.  It’s a completely legitimate endeavor.

   The real change to the journalism profession is the audience.  I don’t think that surprises anyone, but the approach, the processes, the basic philosophy of the journalist has to make a subtle shift to fit that demand.  The information consumer is no longer patient enough to wait for print deadlines and for the carrier to make the rounds through the neighborhood.  They also don’t want the same packaged news that’s being delivered to their next door neighbor, nor do they want it in the same delivery format.  The future journalist is a gatherer and organizer of content.  Certainly some of that content will find it’s way to a print paper, but focusing the journalist on the content vice the final presentation will enable greater transportability of the information to other media, electronic and otherwise.

   I do view with some skepticism the ocassional abandonment of grammar and spelling rigor to the benefit of pumping out a larger and more diverse body of information.  Call it an old school devotion to properly expressing oneself, but paying some proper attention to spelling and grammar ain’t just waisting thyme.