Singer takes a ‘Bird’s-eye View’ of journalism’s future

Journalism and mass communication educators from across the globe will gather in Boston to share tips on how to survive and thrive in today’s evolving world. To kick off our summer convention, AEJMC asked [everyone] to imagine what the future of journalism and mass communication might look like.

17 innovative submissions were entered overall, ranging from 140-character tweets to unpublished book chapters to graphic designs and even poetry. 12 judges from advertising, education, new media and other areas, narrowed the entries down to three. And after a membership-wide vote, Jane Singer, University of Central Lancashire and University of Iowa, was selected as the winner for her entry, “Bird’s-Eye View.”

Singer wins complementary registration to the 2009 AEJMC Boston convention and will work with editors to produce her article with United Press International.

Jane B. Singer is the Johnston Press Chair in Digital Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire and an associate professor in the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Her research explores digital journalism, including changing roles, perceptions, norms and practices. Before earning her Ph.D. in journalism from the University of Missouri, she was the first news manager of Prodigy Interactive Services. She also has worked as a newspaper reporter and editor. She currently is president of Kappa Tau Alpha, the national journalism honor society.

Bird’s-eye View

by Jane B. Singer
Associate Professor

Journalism will survive because it fills an important social need. But the shape of the industry and the jobs of industry workers obviously already are changing dramatically, and that change will continue. Here is one blue-sky scenario of how the not-too-distant future might look for our graduates.

THE JOURNALIST: For full-time employees, career progression is from entry-level work primarily focused on maintaining the free version of the website; through a newsroom apprenticeship, potentially in combination with an advanced university degree, to develop and refine skills of investigation, analysis, comment and/or management; to a senior role in those (or other emerging) areas, with primary focus on maintaining and enhancing the fee-based legacy and online products – the “value added” components.

THE PLATFORM: The website houses all content. Basic information, including routine coverage (local and wire), is free and continually updated; it is supplemented by user contributions of various types and in various forms. Original niche content and labor-intensive information (results of investigative reporting, multimedia packages, databases, etc.), are available online for those who pay for them in one way or another; newly developed products (for instance, unique content delivered to mobile phones) also may be available only to fee-paying users.

Advertising continues to generate revenue but makes a lesser overall contribution than in the past. In general, it contributes toward maintenance of the basic, free online product while users underwrite a greater share of the cost of the more expensive – but also unique and more valuable – journalistic material. Savvy companies can be profitable, but with much smaller margins than in the recent past.

The legacy print product likely decreases in both frequency and volume but increases in cost, with an emphasis on quality, primarily from depth of coverage and commentary; in essence, it becomes a local “news and views” magazine, with a smaller circulation than in the past. It also carries advertising. The legacy television/radio news product ceases to exist apart from the internet, which is accessible on a variety of non-computer platforms; all “broadcast” content is carried online, some for free and some for a fee; it too has some advertising support.

… And PUBLIC RELATIONS: The media organization’s website also houses press releases, clearly labeled but not re-edited by journalists. Public relations practitioners gain direct access to, and interaction with, readers.

Going even further out on a limb, I offer some speculative details on the following…

* THE INCUBATING JOURNALIST: Undergraduate journalism education

This includes, in addition to the overall value of a university education that ideally develops abilities to learn, think, experiment, focus, socialize and grow:

• Preparation for entry-level job that includes training and practice in multi-platform content creation and maintenance, basic updates, routine reporting, editing and self-editing, blogging and working with users. Basic contextual information about journalists and journalism – law, ethics, history, social/cultural roles – also is part of this education.
• Preparation for career advancement that builds on the basics through training and practice in such areas as investigative reporting, analyzing information (in multiple formats), producing commentary, developing a personal voice, planning and creating multimedia information packages, and so on. Given accreditation limitations, any given student can gain familiarity through coursework with only a subset of these.
• Preparation for specialization that focuses more attention on / advising about content and structure of courses outside journalism than is currently provided, with an eye toward development of a marketable area of expertise for the student.

Although oriented toward journalism, this structure also serves students who plan (or stumble into) other careers. It emphasizes communication skills, self-presentation, and relationships with others outside the occupation, as well as “reporting and writing.”

* THE FLEDGLING JOURNALIST: Entry-level employment

The entry-level journalist is a basic multi-platform storyteller, with primary emphasis on maintaining the media organization’s website. The job includes:

• Information gathering (online, by phone, in person), using words, images and sound.
• Creating and updating primarily short text/visual/audio items based on info obtained; writing accompanying text (headlines, captions, explainers, etc.); incorporating links
• Blogging, either through contributions to a group blog or though individual blog in area of expertise
• Developing and incorporating options for user contributions to the journalistic product and engaging with users in various ways (comment threads, social networking, etc.), as well as promoting opportunities for user participation. (User announcements and other similar contributions are handled by PR practitioners; see below.)
• Adapting selected content for legacy products such as the printed newspaper.

The additional time needed to do these multi-faceted tasks comes at least in part from the elimination of time now spent reconfiguring press releases. Material from press releases is housed, unedited but clearly labeled, on the website, likely both in a separate section containing all press releases and another section with content organized by subject area. Users also can contribute their own press releases, announcements, etc.

* LEARNING TO FLY: The newsroom apprenticeship

Entry-level work expands over time to accommodate input into more sophisticated journalistic products. At some point within the journalist’s first year or two in the newsroom, time is allocated for an in-house apprenticeship with a more senior staffer, in conjunction with ongoing duties; for instance, the journalist might work with a mentor one day a week for some period. Depending on the journalist’s personal interests and talents, options might include working with an experienced reporter on an investigation; developing a new information database; creating a visual feature; planning coverage of an ongoing event (such as a political campaign) or issue; and so on.

This in-house training may be combined with a focused master’s degree program or other outside professional development work (for instance, through institutions such as Poynter or the American Press Institute). This ongoing education should particularly encourage expansion of knowledge in a niche area (politics, sports, economics, etc.), as well as extension and refinement of skills suiting the journalist’s interests and talents. Eventually, the journalist is ready for promotion to a senior newsroom position.

* TAKING WING: Senior journalists

More experienced journalists produce the “value-added” content, including most of the material that requires payment to access, either online or in the legacy product or both. This includes the results of more in-depth reporting and writing (which there is time to do because the entry-level colleagues are handling the routine coverage and PR practitioners are responsible for disseminating their own content). It also includes, among other things, provision of analysis and commentary; development of large-scale collaborative projects, including user-journalist collaborations; and creation of multi-media packages around a particular topic or issue. In short, these journalists produce the content that others – including others outside the newsroom, such as bloggers or other “citizen journalists” — have neither the time nor the skills to create.

Senior journalists also move into supervisory jobs as editors, producers and managers. They plan and develop new content areas and applications. They establish and maintain open channels of communication with users – for idea generation, for content creation or contribution, and for feedback. And they serve as mentors to junior colleagues, particularly through the in-house apprenticeship programs outlined above.

* AND IN A NEARBY NEST: Public relations practitioners

PR practitioners follow a similar career path. Essentially, they do the same work as journalists in this scenario; the core difference is (as now) in their loyalty to a particular client or company rather than to the overall public. Press releases, clearly labeled as such, run unaltered on media organization websites, which essentially act as information hubs or local/regional/national portals. They serve as “tip sheets” for journalists but are kept distinct from the journalistic product. Users also contribute their own news releases, announcements, photos, etc. PR practitioners handle the job of processing these.

• SECOND PLACE ENTRY: 2020 Vision: What’s Next for News
• THIRD PLACE ENTRY: Empowering Professors with Today’s Skills