The most promising element heading into 2008 may be innovation. The news industry now appears to be taking to new technology in earnest. Sites are evolving quickly and, in a new development, the mainstream media are now among the more experimental players.
More media sites are taking the reader away from the “walled garden” – their own content – linking to once-taboo outside sources or even inviting in third-party content, allowing hunting-and-gathering consumers to act more directly on their preferences rather than being led to them.
Citizen media are also growing in ways unmistakable and engaging . Web sites run by citizen journalists are multiplying – rapidly approaching 1,500 heading into 2008 – offering stories, blogs and videos. And that trend is considered a healthy one by professional journalists, who call on citizens more frequently to inform their reporting.
The journalism of the future increasingly appears to be a hybrid that takes advantage of the technology rather than fights it. But the questions of who will pay and how they will do it seem more pressing than ever.