For the next few years there will be a lot of people selling you the future of journalism. There will be a lot of headlines that follow the, “Will [x] save journalism?” template. There will be a lot of pundits arguing over paywalls, micropayments and other things related-to-journalism-but-not-actually-journalism.
I’ll see you on the other side.
Journalism isn’t done to satisfy market demand or to sell sneakers. It’s done to serve a public that exists within a particular space, whether that space is the corner store or a corner of the Web.
So while we debate business models and raise the question “Yeah, but how do we make money?” at the sight of every innovation, we have to remember to keep telling the stories that matter. And that means adapting, because you can’t tell 2010’s stories with 1950’s technology and attitudes.
The new stuff is more fun, anyway.
S.P. Sullivan is graduating in May with a degree in journalism and anthropology and is currently seeking employment. During his stint at Poynter he absorbed the collective wisdom of 39 of the best young minds in journalism through the process of osmosis, so paying him one salary is a heck of a deal. Read more at spsullivanmedia.com.
[...] Ewen, Greg Linch and Nic Barajas put together a site featuring the 2009 Poynter College Fellows, myself included, to draw attention to the [...]