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“Naturally, as an experienced investigative reporter, my next move was the highly advanced research technique of Googling "Tennis Ball Shortage?" There were eno

“Naturally, as an experienced investigative reporter, my next move was the highly advanced research technique of Googling "Tennis Ball Shortage?" There were enough hits on Reddit and tennis forums to confirm there are, at least in some parts of the country, indeed tennis ball shortages.” I feel like this fairly accurately sums up modern journalism.

adventured 5y ago
$200,000 degree from Northwestern. Learned to Google.
_s 5y ago
My partner is a journalist in a specific niche (science). Unfortunately - folks have shown time and time again they will not pay content when an alternative is available for free. Most, if not all journalists, would prefer to be do doing investigative work over a few weeks and months - highlighting what is in the publics interests. Publishers on the other hand, with the sales / advertising / marketing requirements & constraints, would much prefer they crunch out 10x stories a day that can drive traffic (ergo revenue). What you are left with are tight deadlines, incredibly poor pay, and most of the experienced folks who actually care about what articles are written under their name just hanging up their pens and taking up cushy gigs in comms / marketing. Journalism still exists, but has been dying steadily - nearly all folks in positions of wealth and power would prefer it didn't exist, and for the folks that should be reading what they write - they won't pay for it, and won't trust it.
- sgregnt 5y ago
  There seems to be more demand for podcasts or video blogs, maybe your partner can think of starting a podcasts?
- comicjk 5y ago
  I think investigative journalism nonprofits like ProPublica are the best point of leverage for this problem. Big newspapers like the Washington Post & NY Times do good investigative work too, but pair it with lots of duplicate stories.
- trosi 5y ago
  Very true. We need to find a way to subsidize "good journalism" or to convince people to care about it.
LeoPanthera 5y ago
Can you explain why you think this doesn't count as journalism? A journalist who doesn't do simple Google searches on popular internet forums in order to discover what people are talking about would seem to me to not be doing their job.
- schemescape 5y ago
  Anonymous/semi-anonymous Internet forums aren’t generally a reliable source of information. Even if the people posting are being truthful (and accurate), they’re still not representative of the population.

adventured 5y ago

$200,000 degree from Northwestern. Learned to Google.

_s 5y ago

My partner is a journalist in a specific niche (science). Unfortunately - folks have shown time and time again they will not pay content when an alternative is available for free. Most, if not all journalists, would prefer to be do doing investigative work over a few weeks and months - highlighting what is in the publics interests. Publishers on the other hand, with the sales / advertising / marketing requirements & constraints, would much prefer they crunch out 10x stories a day that can drive traffic (ergo revenue). What you are left with are tight deadlines, incredibly poor pay, and most of the experienced folks who actually care about what articles are written under their name just hanging up their pens and taking up cushy gigs in comms / marketing. Journalism still exists, but has been dying steadily - nearly all folks in positions of wealth and power would prefer it didn't exist, and for the folks that should be reading what they write - they won't pay for it, and won't trust it.

sgregnt 5y ago
There seems to be more demand for podcasts or video blogs, maybe your partner can think of starting a podcasts?
comicjk 5y ago
I think investigative journalism nonprofits like ProPublica are the best point of leverage for this problem. Big newspapers like the Washington Post & NY Times do good investigative work too, but pair it with lots of duplicate stories.
trosi 5y ago
Very true. We need to find a way to subsidize "good journalism" or to convince people to care about it.

LeoPanthera 5y ago

Can you explain why you think this doesn't count as journalism? A journalist who doesn't do simple Google searches on popular internet forums in order to discover what people are talking about would seem to me to not be doing their job.

schemescape 5y ago
Anonymous/semi-anonymous Internet forums aren’t generally a reliable source of information. Even if the people posting are being truthful (and accurate), they’re still not representative of the population.