It will be an interesting future for journalism.....the current crap that the agenda and celebrity-driven "journalism" graduates report is repulsive.
It will be back to the future, with mostly on-line information and a few, smaller hack papers that only preach to thier political choir...Democrat papers with letters to the editor nonstop from AFSCME members repeating canned talking points about class warfare. Republican papers with Michael Phelps and his bong on the front page. Hearst of 1910 will be replaced by MSNBC of 2010.
The biggest problem will be the evaporation of paid "beat" reporters to cover the true and real news in any city or community beyond recipes for apple fritters. Living in Iowa City it is scary....the local paper here can't afford to hire "beat" reporters apparently to do true investigative reporting, fulfill their 4th estate duty, speak truth to power, call out government waste and boondoggles. All you get is repeating of talking points typed up and posted. The sissy men, metrosexuals, and others who write for them all go to the same cocktail parties as the local partisan hacks, so NOTHING gets investigated or reported beyond the party line. Most papers' editorial board's membership reads like a who's who of people who would wait in line to see a musical like "Mama Mia".....I mean these aren't real people. Just elitist wine-sippers who disdain most people outside of the Des Moines City limits. Read the editorial board membership...you'll see what I mean.
How is the Ames Trib? Is the print version the same as the online? I would love to see a resurrection of smaller papers with hard-hitting, adversarial,loyal-opposition reporters who call out the local politicians. Don't think we'll get that though.
