Thoughts on Journalist Financial Struggles

According to this graph, the newspaper industry is not as lucrative as it once was, and it is not clear if the chart takes into account inflation, which could mean the industry is doing worse. While there are other forms of journalistic media, newspaper journalism is one of the most respected and often one of the most cited by other journalism paradigms.

The article, "Why journalists should explore the business side of news," focuses on the dichotomy between the content and revenue producing departments of modern journalist companies. This dichotomy is reminiscent of the film industry. Many famous directors such as Ridley Scott, Orson Welles, John Huston, etc. were known for their clashes with studio executives who altered films to make them more marketable. There are infamous cases of this "studio interference." In each of these stories there is the "artistic side" and the "commercial side" clashing with each other. With film the implications of this dichotomy are much less than the affect it would have on the industry of journalism. Releasing the Snyder Cut won't cause a president to resign, but the Watergate scandal did. Still, these parallels suggest that both issues may stem from a common cause, the idea that you can produce good work or make money, but not both.

One solution to funding journalists discussed by Nico Mele is that journalism will be funded by the government. This of course raises concerns . I recently watched a video that discussed a similar issue involving Disney's response to a controversial bill. Its thesis was that Disney's response was intended to appease the governing body that gave them subsidies and privileges. The more control the government has over an industry's success, the more incentive that industry has to appease the government. One of the major purposes of journalism is to keep the government in check, but what will happen when the government is the one writing the checks? I think this form of funding should be approached very cautiously, if at all.

I was discussing journalistic integrity with my father over the vacation and he expressed dissatisfaction at the partisanship of news which manifests in ways both obvious and subtle. He stated that there is a need for objective, trustworthy, "straight news" and that he believed there is a market for it. It is clear that journalism needs to adapt to the changing times and economy and perhaps my father's suggestion is one way it could do so.