Bill Densmore and Chris Peck have posed three interesting questions to people who have signed up for the Aug 7-8 "Journalism That Matters" seminar in Washington, and to members of a Facebook group. Here are my answers:
1) How does a community support journalism at a time when traditional newspaper-generated revenue is drying up?
I'm less concerned about journalism at the community level right now than I am about journalism at the national/global level.
AP's in trouble. Its members are either cutting back on AP services or seriously contemplating doing so, as they refocus their newspapers on local journalism.
CNN has gone straight to journalism hell, handing over its airwaves to people like Lou "Buy My Book About the Mexican Peril" Dobbs and Glen "Liberals are Like Hitler" Beck. I have at least five alleged 24-hour news channels on my cable system, yet I have trouble finding any actual news on any of them at any given moment.
NBC seems to be specializing in infotainment about sex perverts. CBS is a wounded duck.
The Internet has made everything just one click away, so we all have equal access to the Economist, NYT, the Guardian, and other resources. But the roster of newsgathering organizations that have the resources and a commitment to quality coverage of global events is rapidly shrinking.
Enough about the global problems.
At the local level, I'm actually optimistic, even though Wal-Mart and other forces are decimating the ranks of local advertisers who support local news. I think there's going to be a blooming of Internet-based locally focused operations that meld news and community conversation effectively.
2) How does journalism survive when digital devices have made centralized printing presses and TV stations all but obsolete?
I think the important thing to recognize is that printing and broadcasting are the "how" and not the "what."
See my blog item from earlier this year:
http://www.yelvington.com/20070105/a_good_enough_replacement_for_journalism
I don't suggest that the role of the professional newsgatherer is obsolete, but it's not the only way to get some of that work done.
3) What is journalism, anyway, in a time when citizens with a cell phone and laptop can tell stories, take photos and be journalists for a day anytime they want?
I respect a definition of journalism that embraces social responsibility, ethical behavior and professional standards of quality including accuracy and completeness.
But we can't draw a bright line between Journalism and journalism and conversation and activism. It is a continuum. (And regarding activism, a few moments of contemplation about the history of American journalism will drive home that point.)
As professionals we have to earn our way every day by creating value that people -- readers, consumers, whatever -- respect. What we now have to do is learn to create that value in an environment in which anyone can, at any moment, step up and play an active role.