The Future of Journalism

Yesterday I went to a lecture about the future of journalism. As it turns out journalism will most likely be around in years to come, it may be a little different but it will still be here. I went to see the Editor of Fortune Magazine Alan Sloan yesterday speak about the future of journalism, and he thinks that it will always be around because people will always need information.

Let’s face it, most people like to read short articles that get to the point quickly. I should know because I am definitely one of those people. If journalism didn’t exist, who would condense those long drawn out speeches and huge spreadsheets full of confusing numbers. I couldn’t have agreed more with Mr. Sloan more when he said that journalism is gathering information about the world, distilling it, and then getting it out to the people. I can’t imagine a job like that going away. Without journalism, the majority of people would never know what’s going on in the world. I also agreed when Mr. Sloan said that journalism shouldn’t be writing about what people want to hear. Unfortunately some “news” stations today tell people what they want to hear, which in reality only hurts the viewer. By hearing what they want to hear, people get a distorted view of the world, which I think makes the viewers easier to control. But that’s a whole other topic that I’m not going to get into.

I think that journalism should be exactly what Mr. Sloan said it should be; which is to tell people about topics or people they don’t know and let them read about them. I also think that journalist have a lot of power over people. I’m sure the majority of people out there believe a lot of what journalists tell them without questioning anything, which is unfortunate. I guess what I’m trying to say is that people can be easily manipulated into believing or trusting in something they shouldn’t. It’s actually kind of eerie to know that people can have that much influence over other people.

As to the thoughts about journalism fading away, I don’t think ever will. Yes, newspapers might have their days numbered because my generation usually doesn’t read them that much. But as for the journalism field itself, I think it will always be around. It just may be a little different in years to come.

How different?

I honestly have no idea!