Paper and Ink are
Important Part of the Future of
Newspapers
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Finding
a stable industry in
an age of mergers, failing businesses and
employee "downsizings" creates
nightmares for many college students who are on
the verge of deciding what they will do to earn a
living.
Nothing stays the same,
but there are some basics that point toward a
very bright future for journalists ... the
writers, editors, photographers and artists who
today are preparing for what is considered
traditional communications careers.
The name of the game is
CONTENT. And people who can create the content
for the media of the future, regardless of how it
is delivered to the consumer, will be assured of
a lasting and rewarding career.
Rick Thames, a
columnist for the Charlotte Observer, asks,
"Newspapers a dying
business? The same was suggested when radio and
television entered our world. It didn't happen.
It won't happen now, either."
"... newspapers
have thrived for more than 400 years for one
simple reason: They have hitched themselves to a
basic human need," Thames wrote.
"Communities can function as communities
only if the people who live in them share a
common understanding of what they are about.
Communities need news, information and a place to
sort out the issues uniquely important to
them."
"To this point,
no medium has met that need better than
newspapers -- initially in print, and now also
online. As long as newspapers devote themselves
to that role, they will remain important to the
life of a community," Thames concluded.
An article in a recent
issue of Wired
magazine made another powerful statement,
"Newspapers are a $50 billion market."
If you have a question
about how to best approach your future career in
the media, feel free to click the Feedback button
below and ask NJCPA. You may also want to jump
directly now to more information about newspaper careers, choosing a newspaper to apply to and newspaper salaries.
Keep in mind that
regardless of the technology ... the way news
will be delivered ... the name of the game for
journalists will still be creating the CONTENT
that drives the media.
That means getting
better at writing and editing ... and getting
better at listening to what information consumers
will buy and what audiences advertisers will pay
to reach.
This article was
written by Tom Engleman, program director the New Jersey Press Foundation. It was updated in December
2005.
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