Future of News(papers) A review of business models, experiments, innovations, and more Seth C. Lewis School of Journalism, UT-Austin [email_address]

State of the News(paper) Industry

In a word …

UGLY

Falling for decades …

… but spiraling since 2003

Newsroom jobs lost 2007: 2,185 2008: 8,118 so far

“ The world needs journalism now more than ever. We just don’t need paper .” — NYTimes.com reader

Fundamental shift: analog --> digital

Bringing In the User: Emerging Forms of Journalism

Example 1: Citizen Journalism

Jay Rosen’s definition Jay Rosen, 2008

How online news sites use citizen-J Pros in charge Amateur control Opening up to comments Add-on reporter Citizen bloghouse Stand-alone citizen site; minimal editing Hybrid: pro + citizen Wiki-style

Example 2: Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing and Journalism

Show me the money! (or, can any of these ventures pay for themselves?)

Short answer:

Not yet.

Let’s assume current conditions continue (same biz model, etc.)

Crossing the Chasm

Crossing the Chasm

Is there hope in innovation?

Or, be like Google