Op-ed on future of journalism in the Philadelphia Inquirer

Finding journalism's future

This newspaper's parent company sold last week for $55 million, a staggering $460 million less than what it fetched in 2006. The plight of the company, which also owns the Daily News and Philly.com, reflects trends afflicting newspapers across the country, which continue to bleed revenue and jobs as readers and advertisers migrate to the Internet. It seems that advertising-fueled newspapers, nearly the last institutional bastion of journalism, are not sustainable.

The Philadelphia papers' questionable salvation came in the form of rich benefactors. But this is not an option for most papers, and it comes with obvious perils. Systemic solutions are required.

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Beyond the new owners' politics, the sale warrants close scrutiny for its implications about the future of journalism. Any cash-strapped newspaper is vulnerable to being co-opted by political and economic interests. Should we pray for billionaires to swoop in and save other papers? We might first ask whether this "Philadelphia model" promises to provide coverage of critical issues and to add new voices and viewpoints to local and national conversations - or whether it will only strengthen the influence of the already influential.

We can no longer take the Fourth Estate for granted. The current crisis should stimulate debate about journalism's role in a democratic society and about alternative structures that can support it. While scrutinizing The Inquirer's sale, we should take this opportunity to consider broader solutions. Otherwise, our struggling news media could disappear - or become playthings of the wealthy and powerful.

Read the rest here:
http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/inquirer/20120411_Finding_journalism_s_future.html