Media Leaders Share Views on Future of Journalism

by Brittany Grimm, Campus News Reporter - The George Washington University Daily Colonial, http://www.dailycolonial.com/go.dc?p=3&s=3991

In a March 6, 2007 article on the George Washington University Daily Colonial website, reporter Brittany Grimm writes about a forum at which several media leaders discussed their views on the future of journalism. Among the panelists were: Paul Steiger, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal; Ann Marie Lipinski, senior vice president and editor of the Chicago Tribune; Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports; and Cliff Sloan, publisher of Slate and vice president of Washingtonpost.

Newsweek Interactive.

Grimm writes:

“There is a shifting economic model, which has become the story...It is separate from the story of journalism, which is as robust and exciting as ever. I actually think this is a golden age of journalism," Lipinski said, adding, "This is not Pollyanna-ish. I am absolutely optimistic about my future, about my newspaper’s future, about the future of the students in the auditorium today...”

...McManus admitted that there have been widespread cuts in the industry but argued that the caliber of network news has remained steady. “We’re all having to do our jobs much more efficiently,” he said. “I don’t think the quality has been sacrificed. If you’re going to succeed, you have to differentiate yourself with quality.” Grimm writes that the speakers addressed blogging, with McManus noting that blogging presents the best and worst of journalism - the "best" being the honesty, and the "worst" being the lack of checks and balances on information. Grimm quotes Lipinski as adding that "because of an absence of any such system, 'there’s a lot of pressure on the consumer to vet what’s reliable and what’s not.'"

The speakers also discussed an issue CCJ has been tracking lately - the reduction in the number of foreign correspondents on news organizations' staffs.
According to Grimm, Sloan argued that the reduction in the number of foreign correspondents was a troubling issue, while McManus argued that CBS's ability to tell international stories had not been affected by having fewer foreign bureaus and correspondents.

Click here for Grimm's article in its entirety on the GW Daily Colonial website.