Giving Compass' Take:
- Experts in journalism offer their predictions for what's next for the media.
- What trends in journalism will affect how donors learn about and understand social issues?
- Learn more about journalism.
- Search our Guide to Good for nonprofits in your area.
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Predictions for journalism, what the media will look like, and how news outlets can regain the trust of people are challenging. To start to piece the picture together, Nieman Lab asks experts in journalism what they anticipate in the next 12 months. Below are 30 of their answers. Follow the link at the end to read all 100+ experts' predictions for journalism.
“It’s time to abandon middling stories and go very short or very long.” -
The rise of informal news networks
“Once the goal is no longer to recreate news organizations as they existed in the past, but rather to ensure that reliable news and information flows — that there is a place in people’s lives for deliberation and debate — then possibility blossoms.” -
The longform renaissance
“When journalists take the time to explain these layers, it signals respect for the intelligence and curiosity of their audience.” -
Newsrooms will keep losing their conservative audiences
“It grieves me to predict that even the newsrooms who say they want to serve all Americans won’t do any of this. At best, they will mostly continue to ignore the problem. At worst, some journalists will blame the audience.” - Jonathan Stray, senior scientist, UC Berkley Center for Human-Compatible AI
The expert class confronts reality
“While perceived authenticity has always been an important piece of evaluating trustworthiness, performed authenticity has become much more important than ever before because of social media.” - Seth C. Lewis, Shirley Pape Chair in Emerging Media, School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon
Getting beyond the fact-check
“Journalism’s fight against disinformation risks irrelevance if it fails to consider how the human mind processes and reacts to both falsehoods and facts.” -
The rebirth of local news
“There’s an old adage in the news business that journalists only cover the planes that crash. But in this case, we need to cover the planes that are taking off.” -
Journalism as a social service
“Journalism as a social service is about helping people and communities become the best versions of themselves. That’s something another 100 years of Pulitzer Prizes will not achieve.” - Simon Galperin, executive editor, The Jersey Bee and CEO, Community Info Coop
Redesign news infrastructures to build community power
“In optimizing walled gardens of like-minded folks, we’ve forgotten how to create the conditions for us to safely and openly disagree.” - Jennifer Choi, executive director, Just Power Alliance
Read the full article about predictions for journalism at Nieman Lab.