What will the newsrooms of the future look like? One thing’s for sure; change is coming.

Newsrooms for all media are suffering. It appears newspapers are worst affected. That’s only because they’re bitching the most. TV and radio are hurting too, trust me.

While some are simply sitting and bemoaning the web, others are looking for new business models. Smart idea, they’re needed.

Change

So what’s about to change?

Strip away the printing presses, ink and all the other paper-based tools. Now replace them with a server bank and high-speed connections.

From a journalist’s point of view, what’s changed? Well, nothing so far.

They’re still speaking to the same people, receiving the same information, typing on the same computer.

Network

It’s the boardroom with the headache. The days of large multi-nations are over. A new way is coming.

Now it’s about networks of people working for a community, subject or common cause.

Together they’ll cover issues with the same authority and scale as before.

Good journalists will always be good journalists. It’s not the skill that’s lost, just the means to pay them to work.

The new newsroom won’t be rows of computers in an office in a city.

It will be laptops, smartphones and home-office computers in the hands of journalists everywhere.

Now it’s just working out how to make this pay. For that, I’ll get back to you….

Posted on September 15th, 2009 in Blog