Can newspaper's survive Part 2-the changing role of journalists.

Will we all be reporting on celebs in the future? or is there going to be a new golden age of journalism.


In part 2 of the Radio 4's series can newspapers survive,Kelvin Mackenzie says that people pick up papers not for news but to interpret it.Some forms of news will always sell eg Maddy but they want the analysis and you need time to do that.

One of the changes is that in investigative journalism.The romance of the big exposes not doubt attracted many into the profession.The Watergate scandal in America,the TH investigation by the Sunday Times.

Simon Kelner points out that it costs a lot of money and often for no return.

Now people want to report on entertainment such as the 3AM girls on the Mirror.The fame principle has infused into journalism according to Eve Pollard but it is now a picture and a caption rather than gossip.

Ann Leslie at the Mail doesn't believe that readers are necessarily more interested in celeb but that they have more access to it.After all Harmsworth started out writing tit bits.

For the broadsheet,newspapers have got bigger but they are being filled with more trivia and soft news,but there is no doubt that hard news is being squeezed out within the tabloids.

John Snow is impressed by the ambition of the next generation of journalists and is surprised how much of a hunger there is for hard news.The economics of newspapers may well though curtail this ambition,the slow death of the foreign correspondent is cited.Real news gathering is after all expensive.

Peter Preston sees the dangers in cutting back on hard news.When big story breaks,papers will have to wait for news agency staff to arrive.

As for the new media,papers are more concerned in turning their journalists into mini cebs being able to blog,to comment to film and to podcast.

What does the consumer want from their media.All the studies suggest people are consuming more news than ever,but they are doing it by multitasking,ie reading the paper whilst listening to the radio.

Journalists now need to be better prepared.Emily Bell says they must mine their community for coverage,something that bloggers are already doing,writing with a professional knowledge.She believes that this greater scrutiny is better for the media.

The Telegraph has found that its audience wants to partake in the news through comment which is a healthy contribution to the democratic process.Comments that were once only seen on the letters page can now be seen at the end of all articles.

Is there still a role of the journalist.David Montgomery believes that there is no better time to be a journalist.Journos can now control their content from start to finish,there is no need for a host of individuals to interfere with that content.

Peter Preston is so excited about the new journalism that he wishes he could start his career again.