Disruption in Journalism: The Dawn of Digitalization
Hello, creatives!
Technology disruption has shaken every aspect of our lives. For the journalism industry, the rapid shift from print to digital over the last decade or so has nearly brought some organizations in the industry to its knees. But others have thrived through embracing the trends and innovation.
So, what’s going on? For those who may want to enter this career path, what skills do you need to be successful? Fair warning, this is a heavy post with a lot of charts.
First, let’s break down the major sectors within the journalism industry.
Traditional/Newspapers: These organizations primarily focus on circulating a daily or weekly printed form of journalism. Rural areas and areas with a higher than average older population typically rely heavily on their daily and weekly newspapers delivered to their door or sold at the store.
Broadcast/TV Stations: These broadcasting centers focus on providing 30-minute to 1-hour segments of news coverage a couple of times a day, usually morning, noon, and night. Local TV stations have been increasingly bought up by bigger networks, but I’ll get to that in a later post.
Digital-Native News: These are the crop of newer organizations that have emerged from the dot com boom. Many opt to specialize in a niche topic or two. They receive almost all of their revenue from digital advertising.
Audio & Podcasting: This is broken down further into AM/FM radio and digital streaming. The radio as a news source has been around pretty much since the invention of the radio. Podcasting emerged in the digital age and is rapidly growing in popularity because of accessibility and the plethora of niches available.
Now that we have that out of the way, we can focus on the game-changing catalyst that has reshaped the industry in the last 20 years.
Dawn of Digital Journalism
The 1990s and 2000s marked a boom in websites and businesses going digital. Journalism was no different. This opened up opportunities to reach a larger audience and monetize in a new way. Digital advertising remained a small portion of the overall revenue of newspaper outlets until the 2010s, as shown in the chart, courtesy of journalism.org.
This trend isn’t only affecting traditional newspaper outlets, local TV news stations have begun to create apps and regularly updated websites for their news channels. While they receive the bulk of their revenue by selling commercial slots during their programs, the digital revolution has made way for new streams of income, which on the whole, are no small chunk of change and are expected to grow.
In terms of the audio sector of news, radio talk shows and podcasting are similar in that they rely on sponsorships and advertising that appears at some point in the programming. Where they differ is the delivery. Radio is usually live whereas podcasting is prerecorded and packaged. Radio is over AM/FM while podcasting is delivered through streaming services. NPR is a nonprofit news organization that successfully operates in both radio and podcasting, with a network of radio stations across the country and a digital warehouse of regularly released podcast episodes across a wide array of topics. To illustrate how accessible audio forms of news have become, a survey conducted in early 2019 revealed that 67% of Americans 12 years or older had listened to online radio in the past week. This trend is more likely than not only going to grow.
What about digital-native news outlets?
Unfortunately, it’s difficult to aggregate revenue data for digital-native news outlets, so the best sources I’ve been able to find are charts that detail the rise in overall digital revenue and the steady growth in digital-native news employment. That said, these two charts paint a striking image, compared with employment in other sectors.
What a lot of people don’t understand is that it takes an enormous amount of teamwork and time to produce quality journalism. For those who are in marketing and PR, you know that the software and tools needed to set up a well-functioning app and newsletter cost a pretty penny. Audio/video equipment is expensive. Writing is intensive and requires a whole staff on its own. At the end of the day, everyone needs salaries.
The bigger the organization, the bigger the staff, which means more advertising is needed to break even and generate income for the organization to keep it going. This is why ad revenue is so important for journalism. No ads=no news.
There are online news publications that require monthly subscriptions, but only time will tell how well these models work and their effects on the widespread acceptance of disinformation posed as affordable news.
So, here we have the digital ad revenue for all recipients, not just news outlets, compared to the growth in employment for digital-native newsrooms. This paints a picture of steady growth. As we become an increasingly connected world, the proportion of digital versus non-digital revenue streams will continue to grow. As for the dramatic employment growth, this is not seen across the other sectors.
So what does this all mean? These charts and numbers can be flashed around and several things can be drawn from them. Here’s what I see in these charts:
The internet age has dramatically changed the nature of how we consume news. Because of this, digital-native news outlets are thriving while employment declines across other news sectors.
The future of the industry is increasingly digital and broadcast oriented. So, it’s important to take a step back and ask an important question: what do you need to be employed in the fast-growing sectors of journalism?
Skills Needed to Enter Journalism Careers
Now we need to consider the future. To be successful in journalism, whether in a traditional, broadcast, radio, or digital format, what skills do you need?
At my alma mater, my professors were/are still active in their professions as journalists, and they designed the Journalism curriculum to fill the skills gap tailored for the future of the industry. So, here’s a quick list of various skills that would give you a leg up in the pursuit of a journalism career:
A Strong Sense of Ethics: With disinformation on the rise, threatening democracy, and pitting people groups against each other, a strong sense of ethics is an absolute must for any future in journalism.
AP style writing: Many journalist roles require strict adherence to a specific writing style. Get the latest AP style handbook and familiarize yourself with the rules, which differ greatly from MLA or Chicago format that’s often taught in other academic and professional circles.
Photography: Knowing how and when to take the right photo is essential for writing news stories, especially when pictures can help the reader better grasp what’s happening in the scene.
Audio/Video Editing: This is called packaging. It’s especially helpful if you plan on working for a TV station, where you’ll be asked to go out, take videos of events and interview people, and then create a 30-second to a 1-minute long package that will be aired on the nightly news. This skillset is also incredibly helpful for narrative storytelling, which is found in documentaries, and in-depth investigative reporting, as well as if you plan on being a part of a news podcast.
Social Media Management: News outlets use social media as a means of engaging with their readers so if you don’t necessarily want to be the one writing or editing, then you could be one of the many needed to help with the marketing of the organization, which increases readership. I kid you not, my journalism professor had us certified in Hootsuite as part of our multimedia journalism class. So this is important.
Data Analysis: Data wants to tell a story, but few know what it’s saying. So if you eat data for breakfast, then you might be good at writing about big-tech, financial news, or education, which are frequently data-intensive subjects.
These are just a few of the skills that my program ensured my classmates and I had by the time we graduated. For those of you who are hoping to secure a future in journalism, especially digital-native journalism, these skillsets are essential for success.
I hope this post helped you gain some perspective on the bigger picture of journalism. There are a few other big, game-changing trends that have shaped journalism in the 21st Century that I’ll detail in later posts.
Until next time,
Rochele