Columbia University recently released a wonderful report on the state of journalism called Post-industrial Journalism, written by C.W. Anderson, Emily Bell and Clay Shirky. The writers examine the state of the profession today and they highlight opportunities for both individual journalists and journalism institutions. I am only part of the way through it, but it’s very well done. It examines some of the familiar territory that the profession has traveled over the past 15 years: the decline of newspaper advertising, the rise of social media, etc. But the report also takes a fresh look at some of the new issues journalists and institutions face now that the media landscape has changed so much. I highly recommend it.
Joshua Benton has a nice summary of the study here at the Nieman Lab website, including a link to the full report. A quote from the report about its mission says it all: “This essay is part survey and part manifesto, one that concerns itself with the practice of journalism and the practices of journalists in the United States. It is not, however, about “the future of the news industry,†both because much of that future is already here and because there is no such thing as the news industry anymore.”
I repeat: Because there is no such thing as a news industry anymore.
