The Republic's new "Community Conversation" format has dealt a significant blow to the Editorial Board. The Valley and State section has been reduced so the stories from B1 now jump to the Op ED page. This limits the number of syndicated columnists and My Turn columns that can run on the two opinion pages.
This morning something extraordinary happend; the Republic didn't run an editorial. In its place was a My Turn column from the Founding Dean of the Journalism school.
Daily newspaper readership and network evening newscast viewership are in a steady downward spiral. New forms of media are emerging, but much of the multimedia world is dominated by non-news companies that have few journalistic traditions. And believability of news outlets continues its two-decade decline unabated.
Ironically, he made is comments on the occasion of the groundbreaking of the Journalism school's downtown campus.
Yet despite the disturbing trends, this also is a time of unprecedented possibilities. Emerging technologies, new methods of storytelling, interactivity with news consumers and innovative ways of thinking about the news all give promise for a better news media future, a future that can engage news consumers, build communities and increase participation in the democracy.
New methods of story telling indeed. It looks like Republic readers are in for more "Conversations" and less opinion.
Dean Callahan of ASU:
"And believability of news outlets continues its two-decade decline unabated.
The result is frightening...a threat to our democratic society."
Gee...that's funny. I thought the decline of the biased mainstream print and TV news outlets was one of the great success stories of our time and a boon to democracy. This guy is clueless and obviously the perfect pick by Michael Crow for Dean of this misguided and overblown school.
And, why does journalist Dean Callahan begin sentences with "And ?"
Posted by: Gilabender | February 21, 2007 at 08:45 PM
And if any of you received an invite to the ground breaking, it said
"School of Jounalism"
that's missing an R.
ha.
Posted by: john upshur | February 22, 2007 at 02:10 AM