Is there any good news on the horizon for the news business?
Being the bearer of bad news is no longer a guarantee of good news for newspaper bottom-lines, according to analysts of the 21st century’s beleaguered news business.
A social media revolution that has sparked an explosion in news quantity at the expense of quality has also accelerated information fatigue and news avoidance, two issues raised during #Reuters’ February 7 Journalism, Media, and Technology Trends and Predictions 2024 discussion.
Unfortunately, the event generated little good news to counter-balance catastrophe cultivation, especially when it comes to the business of news – at least the business of news as 20th century news enthusiasts fondly remember it.
Nic Newman’s conversation with Reuters’ global editor Tom Platt covered everything from the loss of news traffic delivered through Facebook and Twitter/X to the complexities of incorporating and monetizing TikTok, podcasts and other formats in newsroom operations and AI’s potential to unravel what is left of public trust in mass media.
Newman, senior research associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, is the author of the 2024 Digital News Project [https://bit.ly/3HShZnt]. The report outlines the challenges and opportunities in the challenges facing the news media today and was the basis for the February 7 discussion.
The sum of its conclusions is not for the faint of heart. And not just for publishers, journalists and news organizations.
The public will be the ultimate loser if the old media and the new media together cannot make an objective process to pursue the truth their overriding priority before misinformation, mistrust, hype, hopelessness and polarized hysteria permanently fill the information void.
@timothyrenshaw