Is the Future of Journalism Bleak?

I often get asked why I choose to pursue a degree in a dying industry. Well, it is true that no one reads the newspaper anymore. It is also true that in the past 15 years, the industry has lost almost 50% of jobs that had existed before. Like a lot of other industries, the media industry has been greatly disrupted by the technological revolution. I’m going to put it out there, I see these changes in Media as exciting opportunities instead of bleak futures. The media industry is not dying, it is changing faster than anyone could have anticipated. The digitization of information does not simply mean that journalists now upload their reporting online. With the technological revolution, our consumption of information has also altered drastically. Companies like BuzzFeed are re-defining the content that is found in mainstream media. Everyone can find something for themselves today. The democratisation of media is something that I am infinitely optimistic about. Traditional gender/cultural identities are being challenged in media to suite the youth of today.

But let’s take a step back for a minute to understand why people are unsure of the future of journalism. The main problem lies in our perception of online content to be free. Initially, when the internet was new to everyone, media companies used the internet as a supplementary medium and therefore a lot of the content was free. Today, the internet is where we get the majority of information. According to reports, 67% of Americans get some sort of news on social media. Technology developed faster than anyone could have anticipated and the media companies failed to keep up. In other words, they did not redesign their business models fast enough. It is only recently that paywalls are being set up and subscriptions being designed. Why do we hate this? Because we have been spoilt for so many years. The consumer is aggravated because the same content that was free a year ago, is now only available to subscribers. Moreover, all of us have ad blockers installed on our computers. How is journalism supposed to make money? As frustrating as it is, the average daily consumer needs to start subscribing in order to save good-quality journalism.

In today’s world of disinformation, journalists have a very important (moral) role to play. The fact that nations are undermining their enemies by setting up elaborate campaigns to spread fake news, shows how powerful this medium of communication is. It is now more than ever that we need the powerful and informed words of journalists. We not only have a responsibility to create honest content but also police the internet for fake news.

I cannot imagine a society that does not need news in their lives everyday. Our medium of consumption might radically change but that innate need to be informed will not. Was it much easier to be a journalists 20 years ago? Perhaps. But gone are the days of journalism wherein words were the only medium of communication. As students (and consumers) of media, it is essential for us to realise the demands of the industry. The state of the industry is in constant change and who knows if these arguments will be relevant in the next ten years. But let’s not oversimplify the problem by saying that ‘journalism is dead’. Let us dedicate our creative energies in making journalism sustainable in today’s world of disruption.