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Five Myths about the Future of Journalism

by Tom Rosenstiel, Director, Pew Research Center Project for Excellence in Journalism Special to the Washington Post

There are few things journalists like to discuss more than, well, themselves and the long-term prospects for their industry. How long will print newspapers survive? Are news aggregation sites the future? Or are online paywalls — such as the one the New York Times just launched — the way to go?

As media organizations plot their future, it’s worth discarding some misconceptions about what it will take to keep the press from becoming yesterday’s news. Here are five frequent, if faulty, allegations:

  1. Traditional news media are losing their audience.
  2. Online news will be fine as soon as the advertising revenue catches up.
  3. Content will always be king.
  4. Newspapers around the world are on the decline.
  5. The solution is to focus on local news.

To find out the facts behind these five prevailing myths about the future of the news media, read the full article at washingtonpost.com.

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