The News: What is its future?

By Nicole Feriancek

Reporting Techiques 2001

Photo by Adam Miller, one-year program

 

The quality of life and democracy in Canada could be at risk if serious journalism does not continue to the next generation of media says John Honderich, Chair of Torstar Corp.

The former publisher of the Toronto Star, who has more than 30 years of newspaper experience, was speaking at the seventh annual Joseph Howe Symposium at the University of King’s College. “The debate and discussion as to what should be done in Canada must flourish now.

“If it doesn’t, I believe the very quality of democracy could be at play.”

Since the height of newspaper journalism in the 1980s, the industry has faced a steady decline, aided by the recession of the 90s and the widespread use of the Internet.

“More and more people are switching to the web, where websites and blogs flood the space with up-to-date news and commentary,” he said. “And they do it for free.”

Journalists are no longer the “gatekeepers of information”. The next generation of media is online, immediate and open to anyone.

This shift from print to online is having a profound impact on the quality of media, he said.

“Online sources rarely choose to dig deep or launch in depth investigations. As newsrooms shrink, so too do the journalists necessary to do journalism.”

Fourth-year King’s journalism student Kathleen Hunter said that serious journalism is incredibly important.

“Journalists act as the voice of the people and they need to keep pushing and pushing to get at the truth,” said Hunter. “We need to protect investigative journalism because without it so much slips by and is never told.”

Honderich highlighted the Toronto Star’s “racial profiling” investigation as an example of the importance of quality investigative newspaper journalism.

 The three-year investigation cost millions and required a “significant allocation of journalists and costs”, but resulted in the exposure and ultimately decline of racial profiling within the city of Toronto.

“Stories and reactions like this; it just doesn’t get any better,” he said. “The impact of this type of story never dies.”

Newspapers, unlike online blogs, have significantly more resources. With more money and more journalists, news papers can probe into the depths of society, “providing the means for a population to examine itself,” he said.

“The quality of public debate, if not the very quality of life in any community, is in my view a direct function of the quality of media.”

“I prefer to do things the old fashioned way,” he said to the 300 plus audience of aspiring journalists, teachers and professionals.

But the reality is that the future is going to be online.

“Newspapers have been hit the hardest. Newsrooms are shrinking every year,” Honderich said.

“Everyone is looking for that elusive business model to move us forward.”

Kevin Cox, managing editor of allnovascotia.com argued later that the quality of journalism is more important than the way it is delivered.

“Content is King!” he said. “There is no general model to replace newspapers. We are still fighting the battle. The information has to be unique and has to be engaging.”

Hunter, who is about to enter the battle as the newest generation of journalists said, “I’d like to think I could still practice old-school journalism, but I feel like that’s not totally an option.  

“I’m trying to embrace the new technology and use it to my advantage in my research.”

Honderich discussed a number of viable options for the future direction of journalism including government funding, tax incentives and innovative organizations such as ProPublica.

But the point he stressed was that regardless of the future business model of journalism, serious, thought provoking, investigative journalism must continue.

“We should be very demanding of what we expect from our media,” he said.

“If the media don’t function well, a society can suffer.”

2 Responses so far | Have Your Say!

1. Kylie Batt
   April 16th, 2010 at 1:38 pm #

   который я уже неделю исчу…

   The former publisher of the Toronto Star, who has more than 30 years of newspaper experience, […….

2. Kylie Batt
   April 21st, 2010 at 5:18 pm #

   Я Вам очень благодарен за информацию. Я воспользовался этим….

   The former publisher of the Toronto Star, who has more than 30 years of newspaper experience, […….