Response to “Are Reporters Doomed?”

Journalists would like to believe that they are the be all and end all of modern society- and that without them, knowledge and truth as we know it would come to a standstill. Although, with the recent surge which has taken place in the area of citizen journalism-perhaps tradtional journalists aren't as necessary anymore.

The article “Are Reporters Doomed?” may strike a cord with ‘hardcore’ journalists, as they would like to believe that the whistle-blower investigative journalism of the past will remain prevalent in the news culture of the future. Unfortunately, I must agree with the position that David Leigh has taken in his article, he argues that money being taken away from traditional media is the first sign of disaster,he states that the "journalistic future will be a future with less money around. That won't be good. Too much competition leads to a race to the bottom. And you can't report if you can't afford to eat". Journalism as we know it- in fact media as a whole-seems to be on its way out.

Blame it partially on the internet revolution, but also on the problems that have occurred with media credibility in the last few years. An example of this would be the whole Dan Rather fiasco-affectionately nicknamed by bloggers as "Rathergate"-when he tried to break the story on George W.’s National Guard time. Whether this story was true or not, his integrity was challenged-and as a result his credibility was, if not completely ruined- then at least greatly tarnished. The point I’m trying to make is that, perhaps incidents like this have lead to a culture of mistrust towards journalists, and an inclination to search for more personalized sources of information. Furthermore, the role that bloggers played in disproving Rather's report- and in spreading knowledge about the scandal-sends a strong message; the power of the citizen journalist actually exceeds that of the professional journalist.

Leigh states that in the future there will be, “hyper-local sites — postcode journalism fuelled cheaply by neighbourhood bloggers. But not proper reporters.” This can be good and bad. The reason that this type of journalism would be beneficial, is that the insider perspective that it would provide may prove to be much more insightful, and much less disputable-because it is coming directly from the source. Of course, this can also be bad because outsider perspectives would be unwelcomed, and deemed un-credible.

Journalists should continue to fight for their positions in society, and their presence should still be felt-even if it is an online presence. At the end of the day when the rent needs to be paid, how many journalists will be able stick to it, or perhaps they may also revert to citizen journalism as a hobby-and have to find a new day job.