Uncategorized 18 Mar 2009 02:40 pm
Whither the Watchdog Function of Newspapers?
Watchdog Function Disappearing
“As Americas newspapers shrink and shed staff, and broadcast news outlets sinks in the ratings, a new kind of web-based news operation has arisen in several cities, forcing newspapers to follow the stories they uncover.” The New York Times, November 17, 2008, Richard Perez-Pena.
See www.voiceofsandiego.org, which provides a brand of “serious, original reporting by professional journalists….” In the past few years, similar “papers” have been started in Chicago, New Haven, Seattle, St. Louis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New Haven… and ANN ARBOR.
Newspapers have for many years been the watchdog over government, business, society in general.
But as newspapers ebb in their influence and new and social media – more immediate and deliverable and in demand by us all – there is a growing presence of community web sites that are picking up the function and watching what officials do.
One of these is exemplified right here in Ann Arbor – The Ann Arbor Chronicle. It covers offbeat and eclectic topics, but also covers what people are hearing and saying. Its audience is now small, but growing rapidly and covering a space that needs to be served.
And this type of digital publication is appearing across the nation in large cities and medium and small cities. As people’s quest for sound information remains, so these new methods of delivering news on the Internet is coming to life.
While these sites do not fully fill the void left by lack of coverage, they do provide a start to another new way people will get information in the future. A future of new and social media that have current problems with monetization, but which nevertheless continue their appearance and develop into one more way people get news in new digital delivery forms.
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