The Future of News…

Will it be defined by a declining legacy media; the diminution of important journalism like international reporting; the end of whole disciplines like photojournalism and investigative reporting? Or will the old be replaced by robust new ways of learning and sharing the news, like participatory journalism, ambitious freelancing, and news satire? What’s clear is that the shift from analog to digital is more than just technological—it is a rift between eras. Reporting has evolved from one-way to many-to-many; from exclusive and expensive to accessible and cheap. The ability to create and share news is now handheld and ubiquitous.

But it would be a grave mistake to forget the fundamental role of news—to nourish an informed democracy. As Thomas Jefferson noted in 1789, “Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” With that in mind, our task in this second edition of The Future of News is to explore whether today’s news is intellectually closer to broccoli … or bon bons.

In this edition of The Future of News: An Agenda of Perspectives we examine:

- The tension—and congruence—between legacy and new media and the evolving economic models of both.

- What the lessons of the past can teach us about the future of news.

- The journalistic value and importance of international reporting and quality photojournalism, and how they’re compromised by declining budgets.

- The virtual explosion in the amount of information now available and why today’s mandate is less about the availability of information and more about curating the right information.

- Left, right and center—a debate on the impact of media fragmentation on the quality and credibility of news.

- How social media creates an opportunity for an ever-more satisfying and engaging user experience with news.

- Some really different ways of thinking about information, including the blurring line between journalism and satire—and the value of games in news.

Join us as we share the perspectives of seasoned journalists, highly trained academics, and new media visionaries as they explore and predict the Future of News.

Kelly Kaufhold, Amber Willard Hinsley and Seth C. Lewis are former journalists with years of experience at news organizations including the Los Angeles Times and the Miami Herald. Kelly is an assistant professor in the College of Mass Communications at Texas Tech University; Amber is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Saint Louis University; Seth is an assistant professor in the School of Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota.