Sunday, February 22, 2009

Community is the future for journalism

A conundrum from Robert Niles who asks


Can democratic communities survive without a newspaper to provide them the civic information they need?
before turniong the question around and asking


Can newspapers survive without the communities they need to sustain them?


For Robert this is the problem with the media industry

where so many news organizations have failed over the past generation. In a drive to professionalize the journalism industry (and, then, to cut costs), we've cut our publications off from the communities they are supposed to represent.


So what is the solution-well it is the internet

Our websites are our livelihoods now-The most important thing that we've built is the two communities of individuals who read and communicate through the sites. That is our product. And that is what we must hold on to, to nurture and to cultivate, if media preferences change and Web publishing become the next newsprint.

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