Rosie Niven

The supposed decline of the print newspaper industry has commanded many column inches in the UK and around the world. Just after arriving in Melbourne, I attended journalism union Media Alliance’s conference on the future of journalism and wrote a story on it for Press Gazette.

A report launched alongside the event confirmed that the trends that have sent print media in the US and UK into decline are gathering pace in Australia. A keynote speech from US media expert Phil Meyer suggest that a leaner, more technologically driven industry will emerge from the ashes of the old one. This raised questions about how journalists would adapt to the changing environment.

In a discussion on the economics of journalism, Ivor Ries, head of research, EL&C Baillieu Stockbroking, predicted that newspapers are in for “ten years of hell”, but that things would improve once titles work out how to make money from the internet. Old mastheads were seen by most participants as the best place for this innovation, but one speaker said that if these titles can’t come up with the goods they should be bought out by someone who can.

There was also some debate on how journalism schools and the employers should prepare new entrants to the industry. Continue reading →