The interweb: friend or foe of journalism?

The media landscape is changing. For centuries, newspapers maintained the status quo of the subscription-based news service. Reporters wrote stories, newspapers churned them out, people bought the papers and everyone was happy by dinner time. Then the internet came along.

The internet didn’t destroy the demand for news. No, that still remains in full force. Instead, the internet changed the economic game of news. And according to Clay Shirky, “there is no general model for newspapers to replace the one the internet just broke.”

So why are newspapers around the world stopping the presses for good? “It’s the original sin of newspapers: putting their content online for free,” says Melissa Wilson, the student lounge editor for J-Source. After all, if you’re good at something you won’t give away your services for free.

As of now, the internet has two advantages when it comes to news: delivery speed and accessibility. But the trade off is a compromise in quality.

“Content is king on the web right now, and unfortunately there is not much quality content out there. Once online media reaches the same level of fact checking, credibility, and reporting quality of traditional media, then we could be looking at the Golden Age of journalism, said Thien Huynh a columnist for 24 Hours.

The print industry can’t keep fighting the battle of reporting facts. There needs to be a shift towards exclusive content. Papers need to offer something their internet counterpart can’t. Unfortunately, no one knows what that is yet.