Six Major Trends in Journalism

Project for Excellence in Journalism, “State of the News

Media 2011” *

* http://stateofthemedia.org/2011/overview-2/major-trends/

1. 2011 - The news industry is turning to executives from outside.

– 2010 - As we learn more about both web economics and consumer behavior, the unbundling of news seems increasingly central to journalism’s future.

2. Less progress has been made charging for news than predicted, but there are some signs of willingness to pay.

– 2010 - The future of New and Old Media are more tied together than some may think.

3. If anything, the metrics of online news have become more confused, not less.

– 2010 - The notion that the news media are shrinking is mistaken.

4. Local news remains the vast untapped territory.

– 2010 - Technology is further shifting power to newsmakers, and the newest way is through their ability to control the initial accounts of events.

5. The new conventional wisdom is that the economic model for news will be made up of many smaller and more complex revenue sources than before.

– 2010 - The ranks of self-interested information providers are now growing rapidly and news organizations must define their relationship to them.

6. The bailout of the auto industry helped with the media’s modest recovery in 2010.

– 2010 - When it comes to audience numbers online, traditional media content still prevails, which means the cutbacks in old media heavily impact what the public is learning through the new.