Inside the Newsroom

In Michael Schudsons article, The First News Revolution of the Twenty-

First Century, Schudson illustrates the way original practices of journalism are
changing due to the economy and technology. As he describes it, the boundaries
of journalism are becoming blurred in six distinct ways. Andrew Rossis
documentary, Page One: Inside the New York Times, supports Schudsons article
by demonstrating the hardships the Times and other news corporations had to
endure while adapting to the changes of media.
Schudson argues at the beginning of his article that everything we know
about journalism needs to be rethought in the digital era, and that the distinction
between reader/writers, tweets, blog posts, newspaper stories etc. has blurred.
With the internet making it so easy for anyone to post whatever they please,
journalism has started to become a 24/7 job. Publications that cannot keep up
with the digital era end up falling behind, as we have seen in the past few years
with the closings of multiple distinguished newspapers. The New York Times has
faced many obstacles trying to keep their company alive, as they, like many other
news corporations, had to let go of a substantial amount of staf in order to stay
afoat. Along with the lay ofs, the Times dealt with a credibility scandal when
reporter Jayson Blair was caught for plagiarizing stories from other journalists. In
the wake of the scandal, executive editor Howell Raines resigned from the times.
The jobs at the Times underwent many changes as the veteran journalists had to
adapt to the new ways of media. David Carr, a well known Times reporter, found
himself forced to succumb to the world of twitter and other social media forms in
order to stay up to date with top stories. Bryan Stelter, a newbie to the Times, was
hired at only 21 after having a popular blog. Bryan is always tweeting, blogging,
and on the phone. Multi-tasking and the use of multiple media outlets is what it
takes to be a good reporter nowadays.
Not everything is completely diferent at the Times. The company has
always been an open work environment with group collaborations and
discussions. They continue to each day pitch stories to their colleagues and
practice crowdsourcing. What has changed is they started collaborating with
outside resources, like WikiLeaks. This relates to Schudsons arguments that the
line between professional and amateur has blurred, as well as survival depends
on cooperation. Media and technology are ever changing which causes news
corporations like the Times to extend beyond printed publications. While some
are afraid that technology will kill traditional printed news, Schudson assures that
we have not reached the end of newspapers.