Where have all the stories gone?

“We who wish to preserve the social responsibility functions of the press might do well to turn our attention away from the owners and investors and, instead, look to the people on the front lines who do the daily work of the profession. Whatever form the new journalism takes, it will need a plentiful supply of moral and capable journalists.”*

In a Murdoch media world, we might not see the newspaper anymore, but news will still need to be distributed in some form. What the Murdoch’s of the world need to know is they might cut away at the production of the news and its distribution, but if they cut the quality and chip away at the reason they are there in the first place, they have lost the race.

Part of the angst traditional media have against new media is any regular Joe on the street can capture news, take pictures, upload, feed and distribute it anywhere in the world. There is an elitist sense that only journalists can fulfill the watch dog role. I don’t buy that because it demeans every single person who has witnessed a story and tries to convince others there’s something wrong with the picture and effect change. However, we do need thoughtful citizen journalists capable of giving audiences perspective.

Igniting activism through informing the public has been the social responsibility role carried out by traditional media. Social responsibility is one of the key tenets of journalism. However current media seem to be unable to hold the torch up high, which gave rise to the citizen journalist. Nature abhors a vacuum. Traditional media, said citizen journalists, were so busy chasing O.J. Simpson and other stories, so busy cow-towing to the Bush administration to see through the lies and so busy making themselves the center of the news, they forgot what they were there for.

There have always been citizen journalists but they have taken their story to the mainstream press and either had the story taken from them or had it buried, never to see the light of day. What is happening now is the citizen doesn’t need the media to spread the word.

In steps the citizen journalist who not only tells the story but demands to know where was mainstream press? Why hasn’t this made front page news? Why aren’t we enraged over this abuse of power/rights/money/sex whatever? Meyer and others say that this new citizen journalist who can also take control of production and distribution will eat the traditional newspaper’s lunch. How he thinks traditional media will survive is if it finds a way of using its reputation and influence to take back of the sense of community and social responsibility by embracing technology.

The old media that survive are those who harness their good will-their influence and reputation-in a cost efficient structure without sacrificing the reputation for accuracy. I hope we meet the challenge. Someone will, that’s all that matters.

Meyer, Phillip. The Vanishing Newspaper: Saving Journalism in the Information Age. 2004. University of Missouri Press, Columbia and London. p. 227.