The Future of Journalism...

Last year we were asked what we thought the future of journalism would be and I struggled to think about which way the industry was going but now, after all of the lectures so far this year I can see where journalism is going.

It is a fact that newspapers are dying. Sales have been decreasing over the last few years but the invention of new technology such as the iPad have meant that there are new ways for people to get their news.

Rupert Murdoch has announced plans to create a newspaper only accessible to iPad users. This announcement comes after claims that The Times is losing sales quicker than rival papers. Richard Branson is also planning on using new technology to make money.

Branson has set up a monthly magazine called Project. The magazine is currently only available on the iPad and will cost £1.79 in the UK and $2.99 in the US. It will be just like the magazines we are used to now but with one striking difference... it will update throughout the month!

A lecture asked us last week what we thought of consumers recieving a iPad from the news companies so that we can read what they are publishing. While I do not feel giving iPad is a good idea, maybe he had a point.

If we all had an iPad/kindle-like platform on which to view our news - newspaper companies would cut down on the costs of producing and transporting the paper in the long run. Obviously not every reader can afford an iPad or kindle but if newspapers developed their own version they could join together in a deal that could be more effective in the long run.

These are exciting times in the Journalism industry. Personally I do not worry about the dying art of newspapers, in fact I find it fascinating that I will be part of a huge media revolution. And as Nelson from The Simpons says - my medium is dying.