PEOPLE NOT PROFIT

My classmates' blogs show the true state of journalism: journalists are not trusted by society, the news industry is failing to provide an essential service to the people, old ways of reporting are on the way out and no one is quite sure what to do next. Oh, and half the class is not perusing careers in journalism, citing reasons like ridiculously low pay and negative job availability after graduation.

This is a time when new journalists (listen up C&J 475) have a chance to rebuild, reinvent and redefine the field of journalism. It’s dawning on my generation that even our professors (especially our professors) have no idea what form journalism will take or what we need to do to prepare. Yeah, we can all see it’ll be technologically based –but we don’t need a degree to figure that out.

News reporting is a service done to maintain freedom and democracy in this country. Media is the only business protected in the Constitution. So, why is it a business at all?

As newspapers drop like flies around the country, it is more obvious every day that current conglomerate, publicly traded, huge media corporations are not providing adequate service to the American people. I know I’ve spent plenty of time whining about these media giants, but I’ve felt powerless against them. They can afford a microphone to send their message when all I have is a whisper. But times are changing and new opportunities are on the horizon.

My suggestion: take news back.

Journalism should be run as other service programs in America are –not for profit. News organizations should be responsible for providing many sides of the same story accurately with as many sources as possible, without advertisers and investors to answer to.

With new technology, the power is being given back to the people. Instead of crying about it, journalists need to utilize it. We work for the people, not for the profit.

Budding journalists seem to be opposed to the idea of citizen journalism –we want news to be reported by professionals, like us (but not actually us, since we’re not going into the field.) Maybe listening to what our audience has to say is the answer, an not only listening, but responding in a meaningful and creative way.

Mainstream media should not feel challenged or threatened by bloggers and citizen journalists, they should consider them resources, teammates working toward the same goal.

Nonprofit journalism is already springing up all over the country. National Public Radio is probably the most successful nonprofit news organization. Some new examples include Voice of San Diego, an online daily, and ProPublica, an investigative journalism group based in New York.

For more information on nonprofit news:
Nonprofit journalism on the rise
Nonprofit News - American Journalism Review