An issue that is exercising many of the best minds at present - the future of journalism in the digital age (see also Sept 15 post). A new report into The Reconstruction of American Journalism (The Washington Post/Columbia University) places the onus on society to assist funding for start-ups.“The ranks of news gatherers in the US now include newsroom staffers, university faculty and students, bloggers and citizens armed with smartphones. Some of the startup news organisations are trying to become profitable, while many are operating as non-profits, financed by donations from philanthropists, foundations and readers, plus some corporate sponsorship and advertising. They could provide communities with diverse sources of news reporting. But most of the startups and their budgets are relatively small, and their finances are fragile.”
As PR practitioners we all appreciate the symbiosis of journalism and PR, and the challenge and reward of gaining coverage thanks to ‘real’ journalists - as well as the importance of high quality reporting to the democratic process. But in the UK, where philanthropy is less common than the US, where is the money going to come from?
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