Journalism In an Identity Crisis?

A forum was held at the Salt Lake Library last night by the National Press Club. The topic? "The Future of Journalism". The forum was a joint venture between the NPC and the communications departments of the University of Utah and Utah State University.

The conclusion? Something we already knew: the Internet is changing journalism, but not necessarily for the better. This will happen until a way is found to make information on the Internet viable, the panel said.

"You can have all the bells and whistles you want, but unless there is actual content there, people won't come back," said Ted Pease, former department chairman at USU.

Essentially, the panelists decided that the future of journalism lies in the fundamentals. Being seen as a credible professional is more important than ever.

However, the Internet also makes this difficult, according to Con Psarras, KSL's news director. He said that because of instant updates by so many citizen journalists, it is harder to verify information.

"Our problem is educating the consumers to the value and essence of the information," Psarras said. "It's almost like (news organizations) need a disclaimer that says these facts have been checked."

A very interesting read for our class. Maybe it would be worth discussing next week. Thanks to Clayton Norlen for writing this article for the Deseret Morning News.