Future of news business discussed by distinguished panel Special

A national symposium, focused on the future of the news business, featured designer of Pulitzer Prize winning site PolitiFact and an editor at the Center for Public Integrity. For students, "it's both a wonderful and terrible time to pursue journalism."

Earlier this month, a national symposium, “When the Ink Runs Dry: A Forum on the Future of the News Business,” was presented by the Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism at the University of Arkansas. The purpose of the symposium was to "bring together national and regional journalists to discuss online news trends, online journalism business models, ethics, and the new role of citizen-propelled journalism in the age of social networking." One panel session, “The Fog of New Media, ” featured three distinguished speakers: Matthew Waite, technologist at the St. Petersburg Times and designer of PolitiFact, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2009; Gordon Witkin, the managing editor at the Center for Public Integrity; and Conan Gallaty, the online director for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the panelists agreed that:

Newspapers can further their role as "gatekeepers" of accuracy and distinguish themselves from a growing number of information providers by creating Internet offerings that differ from their print products.

[Note: The story "Fayetteville Panel: Online news must vary from print" is available to those who subscribe to the print edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and to online-only subscribers. Individual archived stories may be purchased.] During the panel session, Waite discussed methods that can be used by newspapers to differentiate themselves from blogs and other sites. He was quoted as saying, "Effective, objective news sites do more than simply duplicate print editions online. They host databases and information that offer greater perspective and interactive features that allow readers to further the story." Waite, once a reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, is the principal developer of the St. Petersburg Times' PolitiFact project. The site is designed "to help you find the truth in American politics" and features the Truth-O-Meter. The Truth-O-Meter ranges from "True" to "Pants on fire!" As in: Liar, liar pants on fire! Another panelist, Gordon Witkin, is the managing editor for the Center for Public Integrity, which is dedicated to producing original investigative journalism about significant public issues to make institutional power more transparent and accountable.

Photo courtesy of Prof. Bret Schulte, University of Arkansas Journalism Department

Gordon Witkin, managing editor for the Center for Public Integrity, speaks to University of Arkansas students prior to the panel on the future of the news business.

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Witkin highlighted CPI projects such as tracking banks that contributed to the sub-prime mortgage crisis and interest group influence on transportation bills. Witkin was quoted as saying, "The Web traditionally has been a place where people don't want to read things that are long and they don't want to go in depth. We try to make things attractive, interactive and in bite-size pieces that people in the Web world are willing to consume." Bret Schulte, assistant professor of print and multimedia journalism at the University of Arkansas, coordinated the symposium. Schulte, a contributing editor at U.S. News and World Report who formerly served as an editor and writer for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and reporter and associate editor at U.S. News and World Report, was hired by the University of Arkansas in 2008 and charged with implementing the Journalism Department's emphasis on multimedia skills. When asked what prompted the University of Arkansas to hold this panel session, Schulte told me, "I think we in the Journalism Department had a lot of questions about where the field was going and what we needed to teach our students. We wanted to bring in some people to help you see the front lines of journalism today and share what they see as they look over the horizon." Schulte indicated that Waite's statements about journalists being "naive" about separation of journalism and business were insightful. Schulte said, "As money is harder to come by, journalists are increasingly exposed to the business side. The business model is on everyone's list. We don't want advertising to dictate content of story, but not to consider advertisers is impossible." Waite was quoted in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article as saying, "It's both a wonderful and a terrible time to pursue journalism education." I asked Prof. Schulte to give me his reaction to that statement. Why is it a wonderful time? Why is it a terrible time? Schulte said it is a wonderful time because:

The internet has provided new opportunities for journalist that did not exist before. As a print reporter, I was not shooting video. Now, I would do it. Learn a different, fun and compelling way to tell story. [The internet] gives reporters a new audience and they can tell stories through different platroms like intercctive graphics. Reporters can reach a global audience now.

The internet allows transparency that was impossible with print product. Links to sources. Transparency today is at a greater level than it ever has been in the history of journalism, and that adds tremendous and much needed credibility to the industry…if people actually bother doing it.

In terms of why it is a terrible time to pursue journalism education, Schulte said Waite was talking about the economics of journalism. "The internet destroyed the print model," he said. "Finding a job and keeping a job are very difficult. But, I believe it will get sorted out." In the meantime, at least in the Department of Journalism at the University of Arkansas, there has not been a decline in the number of students majoring in journalism according to Schulte. Moreover, students are interested in the emphasis on multimedia skills. For example, Schulte noted that the Art of Interactive Journalism course offered in the spring "filled within a day and a half, and there was a waiting list." "The way we deliver news is changing and we want to give our students those skills," Prof. Schulte said. "Student are interested in the new program, and having the panel helped."