A Year in the News

The article "A Year in the News" from the Project for Excellence in Journalism was an eye opener for me when it comes to the state of the industry and journalism as a whole. A few things stuck in my mind after reading it that are absolutely appalling to me. First of all, the fact that the number of stories in the news agenda is shrinking is dangerous for everyone. Journalistic stories need legs. When something happens, be it tragedy or war or triumph, the event itself is important but more important is how we got there and what can be done to prevent the bad and succeed in the future. It's the stories that follow big events in history that could lead us on the right path. Another thing that bothered me is the lack of attention that the news industry is paying to the information needs and wants of their audience. When I saw the graph of audience interest to coverage, I can't help but ask why?? I understand that advertising is important and the world turns by money but we have to go to the roots of our profession and realize why we do what we do. We are supposed to inform, educate, be a voice to the ordinary citizen, and work to make life better through understanding and information. If we lose sight of the stories that are important to the people we serve, we'll lose everything. I could go on forever I suppose, but dinner time calls! More next time...