intro

It's my hope to take a hard look at the future of news. Changes in technology have always effected the way people communicate - from Guttenberg to telegraph, to radio and tv. But the web has changed everything, and that may or may not be a good thing.
Disclaimer - I work in the news industry - what many bloggers deride as the MSM (main stream news media). That's supposed to be a bad thing, calling us that. Both the left and the right are attacking established media when it suits their purpose.
But we need news we can rely on. We need professionally produced, edited, vetted information. I'm convinced of that. Yes there is a place for blogs, and citizen journalism. I think these things will improve professional journalism - already has in many ways. But getting a lot of folks opinions on what they see in their own backyard, is not the same as what a professional news operation does. Ironically, it is the interplay between established media, and all the new approaches that makes this such an interesting time.
But everything has a price. Someone, somewhere, has to pay for professional news. Information may want to be free, but good information will never be entirely so.
Further disclaimer - I represent print journalists. I think newspapers continue to be the most vital provider of "hard" news - all the other outlets feed off of newspapers. We are told newspapers will soon be dead. I doubt it. But just as tv forever changed radio, so too will these new technologies - and the market has to sort it out.
What is the future of news - how will it be distributed - will folks still want reliable news, or just opinions they agree with - how will it be paid for? Those are the questions I want to try and track here, by pulling together the best thoughts I can find on these matters. I'll need your help and your ideas - no one really understands exactly where this is headed, or how it will effect our societies. But we'd better get talking about it now.