Online journalists optimistic about future, but still pin hopes on advertising, says study

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Online journalists are more optimistic about the future of the industry than their traditional media counterparts, according to a new component of the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism's State of the News Media survey .

Of the 300 Online News Association (ONA) members surveyed most said they had not experienced cutbacks to the same extent as other platforms with 39 per cent reporting a staff increase compared with 2008.

But the online journalists' optimism is 'uneasy', according to the report, as 54 per cent said journalism is headed 'on the wrong track', while 57 per cent said the internet is changing journalism values.

According to the survey, the majority of respondents were confident that a profitable business model for online can be found (39 per cent very confident, 43 per cent somewhat confident).

However, advertising is still seen as the most important revenue source three years from now by two thirds of the group, with only a quarter naming another new revenue model, the study suggested.

In terms of content, the survey suggested that original reporting was by far the most important for news websites (backed by 63 per cent of respondents) with aggregated material from 'legacy outlets' behind this.

User-generated content was seen as the least important content for a news website by 43 per cent of participants.