When discussing the future of news, very few people talk about emphasizing journalism as a public service.
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The average person in America or elsewhere doesn’t concern themselves daily with the future of journalism, despite a large part of their day being spent consuming information on a mobile device. Most people want to consume media relevant to their interest, not wrap their brain around how that information materializes now, and will materialize in the future, on a platform. That thought process, and moreover, the conversation on journalism’s future, is reserved for newsmakers and news junkies.
Among those two groups, the conversation on the future of journalism is hearty and frequent. Rather it’s on the stages of cultural centers or in swanky coffee shops – as was the case two weeks ago in Center City Philadelphia when I joined journalists for a panel event produced by The Brothers’ Network – the dialogue is being had, though the subject matter is largely framed around diversity, the digital media revolution and how to monetize online audiences.
With such a focus on adapting to market trends and producing click-bait that draws a big enough audience to satisfy advertisers, very few people in an already small affinity group are talking about journalism as a public service and how that perception can help sustain the news industry through innovative recruitment practices and financial assistance.
When done right, journalism is among the greatest public services; it’s as essential to civic life as police officers; firefighters; sanitation workers and crossing guards. But when discussing journalism’s future nowadays, public service and civic life often plays the background in favor of mobile ubiquity and native advertising.
Though it’s important to fund journalism and make it as accessible as possible to readers, it’s equally important for one to understand what journalism is and what it isn’t. Journalism is a public service that’s crucial to a healthy democracy and it isn’t solely a commodity whose byproduct is fame.
With journalism framed and widely acknowledged by consumers as a public service, news organizations can attempt to mitigate the issue of newsroom diversity through building talent pipelines with K-12 educational institutions and performing on-site recruitment, similar to the scouting practices of the Army, the Coast Guard and police departments. Moreover, with journalism viewed as not just another industry but rather a public resource for the nation, government and societies-at-large can assist in alleviating the growing financial burden that besets the Fourth Estate while contributing, in thought, in-kind, or in cash, to the longevity of news-gathering and publishing.
The average person doesn’t concern themselves with the future of journalism, but they should, because it’s a service they greatly depend on one that they can’t live without.
Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® & I’m Drumming for JUSTICE!™
Corporations and wealthy people depend on journalism being used for them rather than against them which is why they want to control it.