Five Myths about the Future of Journalism

Online news consumption is becoming more popular through technological advances. There has been major talk amongst individuals about the future of journalism.

A major issue we face is what information is true and what is false. Below, are five myths that have been discussed amongst the journalism world.

1.Traditional views of media are losing audience

- This is not true because individuals are consuming the same traditional newspaper providers. The only change is that they are consuming the information online instead of through the source of a newspaper.

2.Online news will be okay as soon as advertising catches up

- Online advertising received the most profit last year. The problem with this is that the money doesn't go to the news industry or journalists, it pays the search engines.

3.Content will always be the winner

- It has been common in the past for a newspaper who has given the public the most current information is naturally the most popular. Since technology is on the rise the demographics of individuals are becoming more popular.

By the use of demographics, technology can determine what consumers are interested in through the way they access the web. Certain products can be determined based on the websites that consumers visit.

4.Newspapers around the world are declining

- Increased literacy rates are increasing newspaper consumption. Countries such as Egypt and Lebanon are facing higher newspaper consumption due to more literate people.

5.The solution is to focus on local news

- Local advertising companies are not putting their information online which means that newspapers can't generate revenue from this source. Another influence is the significantly low amount of dollars local newspapers generate.

Online media is becoming more popular, but this does not mean that journalism is going to becoming insignificant. The news industry still needs journalists to go out there and supply the public with a good story, whether it is online or through a hand copy of the newspaper.

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