Naked News! Read All About It!

Today, at mass comm week here at Texas State University, I got to enjoy a panel discussion on the future of journalism and convergence. The guest speakers were Rob Quigley, who works for the Austin American Statesman; Elise Hu, who is a reporter at the Texas Tribune and Dan Dolittle, who is the metro editor for the Austin American Statesman. The panel took questions from the audience and addressed issues such as the future of the news industry and how to work in new technologies in the newsroom.

The main question on the minds of many in the news industry is whether or not the news, as we know it today, will survive. This panel explained why it will survive. One way it is surviving is the fact that many news stations and news papers are embracing new technologies such as Twitter, blogs, Facebook and other social networking sites. Many reporters at the Statesman use Twitter to get the news out as fast as it is happening. Hu pointed out that this is a great form of engagement between the media and the consumer. The two can now interact and get feedback from one another thru social networking sites. Another reason why the news will survive is the fact that it is credible. Quigley told a very funny story about a naked man that had been spotted on the top of Applebar in Austin. Everyone at the scene had been twittering that the man had hostages and a gun but it was a reporter for the Statesman that discovered neither of these rumors were true. People still trust the news to deliver the facts and although many people use twitter those same people will still fact check a Twitter message with a local or national news source.

The problem with social media sites is the fact that they just aren't bringing in any real revenue for the media. Many news outlets are looking for new business models and ideas to fix this problem. The Tribune is experimenting with a non-profit business model while the Statesman has experimented with ads on Twitter. No one knows, yet, if any of these models and ideas will stick but the point is that they are trying to make them work or find something that does. Social networking sites are here to stay and so is the news.