*Print Journalism: Its Successes and Problems
As the oldest surviving medium for news reporting, many would suspect that print journalism has already solved the many thorny ethical, economic, and organizational problems that plague newer aspects of the communications industry. This is far from the truth, as this paper will attempt to explain. However, as the entire industry undergoes serious introspection, a series of solutions has appeared that will hopefully be implemented in the coming years, both for the sake of American democracy and social awareness and for the industry itself.
*What is it?
According to Princeton University, journalism is defined as "The profession of reporting . . . or editing news stories for one of the media," and in print journalism, newspapers and magazines are said media. The spread of information to the general public in an organized, objective, factual manner is the primary goal of print journalism.
*Where did it come from?
According to Dr. Daly of Boston University in his December 6, 2005, lecture, print journalism's roots can be traced to colonial-era America's "print shops," which were traditionally set up "Master," "Journeyman," "Apprentice" affairs dealing primarily in weekly publications of public opinion.
Over the next 300 years, print journalism became polarized according to public demand, helped modern political parties off the ground, privatized, distanced itself from government regulation, went public, and reassumed a degree of government control . In many ways, the development of print journalism mirrored the development of American democracy, and the two abetted one another through the years.
*Where is it now (Successes and Failures)?
Print journalism is now a multi-billion dollar business. Newspapers and magazines are read by millions daily, advertisers spend months and millions carefully planning ad campaigns, and massive conglomerates like Tribune and Disney buy, sell, and modify a vast majority of American publications. Furthermore, a series of challenges and victories now sits before the industry as a whole.
Many focus on the difficulties faced by print journalism, including major news issues like waning public trust, dwindling revenue and circulation rates, the meteoric rise of both new and non-traditional media, and severe mismanagement. These problems are interrelated. For instance, revenue and circulation rates owe much of their decline to a public shift toward television, radio, and newer technologies (Especially the blogosphere, streaming video webcasts, and iPod-playable podcasts). Fueled by the unique advantages of these other media and a decreasing trust for traditional printed media like newspapers and magazines, this consumer exodus has drawn both advertisers and subscribers away from print journalism. As a result, the publications, now owned by publicly traded companies, are streamlined by their parent organizations. This streamlining process includes job cuts and focus shifts that often feed the public's growing distrust of printed media.
Victories, too, have surfaced in recent years for the industry. Rocked by numerous scandals, printed publications have worked to improve their sourcing, continue their successful internet penetration, and continue to provide their trademark deep, objective stories. Aided by a new (if still miniscule) influx of online advertising dollars, many newspapers and magazines now seek to focus their strengths further and acknowledge public demand for greater transparency.
*Print Journalism in the Coming Years
As has often been the case in its long history, the medium is at a crossroads. Down one path lies the dwindling, elitist mediocrity predicted in the famous Epic 2014 flash animation. Another leads to a vapid expanse of infotainment, scandal, and a complete lack of self-respect comparable to the worst of television. Yet another leads to an altogether different future, but it is a difficult path to follow. The myriad problems facing the industry must be addressed quickly, succinctly, and honestly while its remaining strengths must be bolstered and accompanied by new, well-planned strategies.
*Utilizing industry successes to solve problems
Easily the greatest threat facing printed media today is public perception. Somewhere along the way, the objectivity, honesty, and constant self-evaluation required for quality reporting were disbanded by a great number of journalists wary of seeming too elitist . This sudden lack of accountability only stripped the industry of its sense of professionalism, however, resulting in some of the lowest trust-based numbers in decades. The highest ranked national newspaper in 2004, The Wall Street Journal, only posted a 49% believability rating, according to Journalism.org's State of the Media 2005 report. Industry heavyweights like The New York Times and Newsweek received ratings barely twice that of celebrity rumor magazine People, which itself was only twice as favored as The National Enquirer . It is the solemn duty of all journalists to do far, far better than this, overcoming recent mistakes (Jayson Blair, Judith Miller, and toilet-bound Korans all come to mind) to filter the vast array of available information into comprehensible, meaningful stories. This can be accomplished via improved sourcing (An area that showed marked improvement in '04; some 48% of all stories in the studied newspapers utilized four or more identified sources, and an impressive 76% provided a healthy mix of views in those sources ), dedication to informing the public of those issues that directly affect them, and better education of journalism students in areas such as ethics and professionalism. If the current trends in these areas continue, printed media will once more be known as sources for honest news.
This could only help newspapers and magazines in their struggle against newer media. Especially with the overnight success of bloggers and podcasters, the news industry has seen itself losing ground to nearly all competitors. Nowhere is this more evident than on the internet, where millions flock to sources that provide immediate access, customizable content, and vastly cheaper prices (Indeed, many of these sources are free). In the current media environment, there is little reason to spend five to eight dollars on a 90-page (Half of which are advertisement) trade or hobby publication to read about a two-month-old conference when the same information has been freely available online for weeks. A perfect example of this trend can be found in the latest Tokyo Games Show, which showcased the debut of a highly anticipated new technology from Nintendo. While free websites like 1up.com and Gamespy.com offered live blogging of the debut and had numerous interviews available within an hour of the conference's end, trade publications like Electronic Gaming Monthly and Play offered only marginally more in-depth analysis more than a month and a half later. Unless publications can refocus on their role as sorters, analyzers, and providers of deep, hard news, they will continue to lose ground to faster, sleeker distribution methods.
Should these two goals be accomplished, difficult though such may be, publications would likely be able to wrest more control from their owning companies. An increase in trustworthiness and ability to effectively compete with new and untraditional media outlets can only lead to further increases in revenues, circulation, and stock market confidence (Indeed, though ad revenues rose several percentage points last year, investors remained wary of the print industry ) that will illustrate the profitability of quality news. While much can be said for the corporate trend toward understaffed, infotainment-packed, "hip" publications in terms of immediate profitability, these newspapers and magazines only further many of the negative stereotypes about the industry, weakening it as a whole. However, the superiority of transparent, in-depth, quality news reporting must be shown as soon as possible, before the downward spiral of decreasing profitability and corporate mismanagement reaches the point of no return.
*Other solutions and predictions
Notable scholars have voiced countless opinions about the print medium in recent years, especially after the industry-wide financial slump of the early years of the new millennium. While there are the expected contradictions and endless hyperbolic condemnations, the majority of these ideas follow common paths, some of which have already been outlined in this essay.
For instance, Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel recently published The Elements of Journalism, and one chapter, "Journalism of Verification," outlined a comprehensive system for obtaining maximum objectivity, factuality, and reader trust. The authors viewed such a system as being central to repairing the media's tarnished image, going so far as to state that "the essence of journalism is the discipline of verification." Their instructions included the complete prohibition of adding content or deceiving the reader, even if such would help a piece flow better or illustrate the writer's viewpoint more clearly. Indeed, the writer's viewpoint should never be evident under their system. Another of Kovach's and Rosenstiel's major contentions was that transparency in all areas was essential. Related to not deceiving the reader, this practice requires the journalist to clearly show who is offering the information reported, enabling the reader to parse any biases that source might have. Furthermore, to be truly successful, a journalist would also be as transparent as possible with said sources, explaining up front what the piece is going to be about and what it's focus will be, except in cases where subterfuge is absolutely necessary (Such as certain kinds of investigative reporting). With such transparency, accusations of fraud, deceit, and the like will be all the harder to pin on a publication and its writers, helping to avoid fiascos like the Blair incident at the Times.
Another noted media scholar, Dr. Thistle of Boston University, offered another solution to the growing problem of nontraditional media. Mystified by current efforts by traditional media to reel in a younger demographic not traditionally interested in their brand of hard news, he suggested that rather than watering down their content, these industries simply wait on this new generation to grow older. According to his suggestion, as these people age, their interests will shift to areas traditionally handled by media like television and newspapers, and they will leave less mature podcasts and blogs behind in light of this.
There is an inherent flaw in this reasoning: these nontraditional media will not allow such a large consumer base to escape so easily. Basic business sense would dictate that they shift their coverage to include any new interests of a large portion of their customer base, undercutting older industry's one major advantage in the older demographics. While soft news is hardly a perfect solution for the disinterest of many younger consumers, simply ignoring them will not only lose them for the moment, but may well result in their permanent disinterest in traditional media. Along with this disinterest on the part of such a large number of consumers will come continued losses in ad revenue to newer competition.
*Analysis and Consequences
Regardless of any predictions or suggestions thus far laid out, there exists a set of truths regarding the current state of print journalism, and these truths are likely to have a deep, lasting impact on both the industry and on the nation itself. Therefore, a careful examination of these factors is required before any judgment can be passed on future action.
First amongst this is the dim economic picture now painted across the field. Regardless of their inherent profitability, newspapers are in the midst of a relatively poor economic period . This is driven primarily by two factors: advertising shifts and circulation drops. Given the popularity of other forms of media and the consolidation going on in many industries that once bought ads en masse, advertising revenues have been weak in recent years, with 2004 seeing what is considered a passable increase of four percent . Given previous drops and the amount of growth other industries are seeing in advertising, this number is dangerously low. Furthermore, with fewer ads per issue, newspapers and magazines are able to provide less editorial content overall, often forcing them to exclude stories or leave out space-taking details such as multiple sources. This, along with a decreasing trust from the public and the popularity of new distribution methods has caused a steady drop in circulation rates in many papers. Unless steps like those outlined above are taken, these two phenomena will likely continue to feed one another, dragging the industry further down.
Another issue facing print journalism is that of new distribution methods. While innovations such as electronic paper may well be many years away, the internet is by now a viable alternative to paper. Though long ignored (Or simply poorly implemented by newspapers and magazines), web sites are now proving to be a new source of profit for many in the industry. Though advertising rates are still modest, they are growing, and the number of buyers is surprisingly large. Furthermore, internet connectedness now allows newspapers to fight directly against a dangerous new rival in the classifieds market: Craigslist.com . While a new, internet-centric focus may seem illogical for an analogue medium, the benefits of at least better usage of technology are hard to deny.
A final, key challenge facing print journalism also affects democracy in many ways, and that is the issue of media's trustworthiness. While not in the pockets of the political parties as they once were, newspapers and especially magazines are becoming more partisan along with the nation itself . Furthermore, given that a primary responsibility of journalists is to keep the public informed of world, local, and governmental affairs to allow them to vote intelligently, recent scandals such as Rathergate and the CIA leak threaten the entire field. Dan Rather ceded his position over the false evidence he reported, while New Yorker columnist Ken Auletta believes that Judith Miller was likely fired on non-legal grounds . Though these actions may well help the media's public image, they also represent a dangerous trend toward stifling those who would seek to expose what they believe to be the truth. Responsible journalism must not be limited by fear of reprisal or disapproval, lest it fail in its primary purpose. The public deserves nothing but the facts, but it must be presented honorably and logically.
The public now has greater access to information than ever before, but print journalism has the opportunity to restyle itself as a sorter of this vast array of information . Should it overcome difficulties of trust and economics, it can only grow alongside the nation that, in many ways, birthed it.