I recently attended a guest lecture by Dan Rather at the University of Texas, Austin on the Crisis of American Journalism and Why We Should Care. I wanted to attend for a variety of reasons not least of which was to hear what such a notable journalist had to say about the crisis faced by the news media industry and what he thought could be done about it. I also wanted to hear his views on New Media and its impact on that decline.

He made some extremely, in my opinion, valid points. He highlights that one of the reasons we (the public) were given for the bailout of the banks is because the banks are the lifeblood of the American Society. He stated that if the banks were viewed as that then so too were News outlets. They provide the people with the ability to understand the major issues of the day, to be involved and to participate in the democratic process. He quoted Thomas Jefferson who said “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” He blames the lack of belief in the current News media on the corporatization of the news which has led to an increase in politicization, risk aversion and homogenization of the news.

On these points I have to agree with him. It is perhaps, these three reasons, more than any other that so many now turn to outlets like Twitter for their news. He argues, and I again agree with him that true journalism, is not just about reporting the news, but investigating it. It is, if done right, predictive not reactive. While many bloggers try for, and in some cases achieve, a style closely approaching journalism, they are often not qualified/trained to produce the level of investigative pieces that a journalist can.

Perhaps the future of news media lies in the truly investigative pieces, the stories behind the stories that are reported by “citizen journalists”. When I asked Dan Rather what his view of Citizen Journalism was, he said he was in favor of it, felt that it made a valuable contribution and that outlets like Twitter had a role to play in news reporting. He was also quick to point out the lack of editorial control, fact checking and general overview can and does lead to false stories, misuse and just general errors.

As a huge fan of Twitter and of course Social Media in general I was surprised to find myself agreeing with him on these points. It took me back to my college days as an Anthropology student and reminded me that “original sources” are the most reliable and that secondary sources need to be validated. Twitter, blogs, and google are no replacement for a tough investigator examinging the facts.

What is the future of your news reading?

image from How Stuff Works