Tomorrow's News, Tomorrow's Journalists

TNTJ January: Building traditional media back up

Andrew Dunn, who blogs at dunnreporter.com, is a journalism student at UNC-Chapel Hill and the university editor at The Daily Tar Heel. His studies focus on public records research and computer-assisted reporting.

I have to admit I have a fondness for the old news organizations. They have a history and tradition unmatched in American history. I will invest my time in helping those companies make it to the other side of this tumultuous time.

It’s clear that it will be painful. And I don’t think the leadership is there right now at most newspaper chains to make it without a dramatic dismantling. But it is possible.

First, though newspapers being sold is scary news, I think it is necessary. Newspaper chains have shown they don’t have the ability to manage these papers successfully with the business model they have set up. We can only hope that a benevolent purchaser will take them, love them and nurse them back to health.

Then it will be up to the leaders of the newly independent newsrooms to find their niche in the community. There is no one golden bullet, that much is clear. These leaders must be able to both ensure quality journalism and navigate the community to find the enterprise model that will work there. Perhaps I flatter myself unjustly, but I hope I can be one of those leaders.

There are a great number of promising start-ups: Spot.us and Publish2 (I’m still hoping for a part-time gig there in the “Future of Journalism” contest) immediately come to mind. I have high, high hopes for ProPublica.

Putting time in those organizations is definitely worthwhile and a more-than-valid career choice. I think a great many will be successful, and I’ll continue running College Rag and Let’s Buy a Newspaper as labors of love.

But as far as my career, I’m going to stick to “old” news organizations. I don’t think it’s blind loyalty. I think it’s pride in an institution and the knowledge that they can succeed.