Upstart News Agencies and the Death of Legacy Media
Sunday, December 5, 2010
As journalism continues to evolve and change with the times many people are seeing legacy media slip away into a black hole of history. One of the many reasons this is occurring is because of online for-profit upstarts.
One such news upstart is the Alaska Dispatch. In an article by David Saleh Rauf, Rauf looks at the Dispatch's continued course to profitability in today's world of journalism. The Dispatch is a nonprofit, investor backed news website that covers many stories in Alaska, and even beyond, that are hard for bigger legacy media to cover.
Because the Dispatch is a non-profit small news agency there is no chain of command to go through. Many decisions are made over dinner meetings between co-founders and editors Tony Hopfinger and Alice Rogoff. They were the ones who decided to send a reporter to cover the BP oil spill which the Dispatch received high praise for its coverage.
Its definitely a unique business model. Many of these small news agencies are springing up all over the country and it is really hurting legacy media. There is no need for these giant news corporations any more when you can assemble a group of ten seasoned reporters and have the freedom to cover what you want.
The reason this works so well is because of today's digital age. The access to online news sources is taking away from reading traditional newspapers. Its all a matter of speed and timeliness. People want their news fast and they don't have time to sift through articles that do not peak their interest.
But maybe that is a problem in itself. Personally I do not like the fact that legacy media is dying. I feel that people would be more educated to what is happening around them if all they had to read was a newspaper.
Online news sites are good for variety and speed but people should be informed about everything that is happening in the world. There are many people who just look at what sounds interesting. By doing this people may miss something that is very important.
However there is nothing that can be done to reverse this trend now. People might as well get used to what is happening because before long online media will be the norm. It is just sad that it is happening and I feel that it is bad for our society.
But I guess as much as I dislike the change, I'll just have to suck it up like the rest of us legacy media lovers and face the harsh reality. Legacy media is on life support. Now may be time to pull that plug before it gets worse.
