Earlier this year, it was revealed that a number of American newspapers were either greatly downsizing, solely publishing on the Internet, or completely going out of business.  [IFI Media Watch, 04/02/09:  Local and National Newspapers in Deep Financial Troubles: Is Technology or Ideology at Fault?]  However, the print media is not alone regarding the fiscal woes facing many in the field of journalism.
 
It is clear there is a new paradigm concerning how the public now receives information.  The Internet has revolutionized the media in content, presentation, and dissemination of news.
 
Indeed, there are young people who have never picked up a newspaper or waited for the 5 P.M. local television news to find out what’s going on in the world around them.  Print journalism has felt the greatest impact from these changes as a result of the technological boom which has swept across the world during the last two decades. 
 
A prime example of how advancements in technology have played a role in the reporting of news became evident during the social unrest in Iran.  After recent elections, thousands of Iranians demonstrated in the streets.  A government, which was accustomed to controlling what information went out to the world, encountered something they had never dealt with before.  Due to the fact an estimated 70% of the Iranian population is under the age of 25, Twitter, YouTube and FaceBook took the place of major news sources concerning reporting on what was taking place in the streets of Tehran.  The technological know-how of these young Iranians far exceeded that of the government and it took weeks for state officials to come up to speed.
 
But the influence of the Internet has had considerable impact on those who provide local news coverage as well.  In America, station managers are learning to make their news products more relevant to a new generation while attempting to meet the needs of the entire community.
 
“Consumers are getting their news and information from many different sources,” said Frank Whittaker, Station Manager/Vice President of News, NBC 5 Chicago, WMAQ-TV.  “They’re still watching television, but they’re also logging on to websites, watching digital channels, and getting information and pictures from their cell phones.”
 
Indeed, many in news management are learning how to deal with this rapidly-changing field of communications on the fly.  Traditional media outlets must meet the demands of long-time viewers and readers who are sometimes resistant to change, while meeting the ever-developing capabilities of technology which, seemingly, have no limits. 
 
“We need to be where our viewers are,” added Whittaker.  “Our challenge is to make sure our content is distributed on a variety of different platforms.  How we do that, and when we do it, has required us to change our business structure to meet that demand.  No longer do we just produce content for the 6 o’clock news.  Now we distribute content throughout the day, on several platforms.  And our reporters and producers have to be trained in how to make that happen.”
 
Some long-standing methods of news delivery will fall by the wayside in the field of communications.  How this information is provided may take precedence over journalistic quantity and quality.  The challenge to managers in the print media and television is not to sacrifice one for the other. 
 
The public will ultimately judge what it wants, when it wants out, and how much.  Indeed, these are the attributes which make the Internet so attractive to many.  In the same breath, there is a hope that tradition will continue to play a role in news delivery.  Only the future will weed out the wheat from the chaff and it will be the innovative, not the strong, who will survive.