A Note of Optimism

If you're tired of hearing doom and gloom reports about the future of journalism in the digital age, take heart. Maybe it's not as bad as the some of the old fogeys fear.

That's the message of a recent Hartford Courant article (sorry, it's archived and pay per view) which noted that, in spite of recent newspaper cutbacks and layoffs, j-school applications are up. Indeed, most journalism students seem undaunted by the worries besetting their news industry elders.

In the story, reporter Joann Klimkiewicz wrote:

Whereas some news folks see the Internet as a foe, the emerging group of journalists see it as a friend. It means they can get the news out quicker than a printing press allows, that their stories will reach wider audiences and, hopefully, have greater impact.

Although the job market can be tough, there are always openings for talented people and there will always be a demand for news stories. What may change, Klimkiewicz said, is how people prefer to get that information. She continued:

And so the tack many [j-school] programs are taking is to get their students proficient across all media. Good journalism is good journalism, no matter the vehicle.

"The most important thing we can teach our students is to be platform-agnostic," says Rich Hanley, graduate program director for Quinnipiac's school of communications. "The more you can learn, the more you can market yourself.

"A story is a story. At heart, you're still a reporter," Hanley says. "Despite the changes in distribution mechanisms, the skills of a reporter are timeless: Report the facts, report the information objectively, and write clearly."

Sounds like good advice.