The Martlet

Media forces have lamented the end of the newspaper as we know it, and have prophesied a bleak future for news outlets. But in UVic’s writing department, the attitude toward the future of journalism is a little brighter.

“I don’t think [newspapers] are doomed, but they need to adjust to work with the Internet rather than against it,” said Paul McRae, a UVic professional writing professor with more than 30 years experience as an editor, reporter, editorial writer and columnist for newspapers across Canada, and with the Bangkok Post. “They need to find a way to make money while offering news, features, analysis, entertainment online.”

MacRae and his two colleagues, Elizabeth Grove-White and Lynne Van Luven, said that the greatest threat to newspapers are disinterested citizens who didn’t learn to read newspapers, people who watch information visually on Twitter and those who prefer to get their news from free online niche sources.

Currently, money is the main issue for publications looking to solve problems of dwindling profits and declining readership. According to Grove-White, the North American market has been losing advertising revenue since the 1980s. Now, with the influences of the Internet and Google, many newspapers across North America have been closing their doors.

But Grove-White, who started in the British press in 1979 and has worked for the CBC, says that thriving European-style journalism could hold the answer.

“Papers like the Irish Times, the Telegraph, the Guardian … have never depended on advertising quite as heavily as major North American papers, and have continued to write for readers rather than business interests,” she said. “I suspect this continuing focus on readers’ interests produces much livelier, more controversial journalism than the journalism written with one eye on major advertisers and pressure groups we see on this side of the Atlantic.”

Publications that focus more on the “why” than on the advertising, such as the New Yorker and Economist, are still profitable and credible, said Grove-White. But whether or not streaming media, such as Twitter, can be trusted is another question.

MacRae says it’s a mixed bag.

“Websites often have an ax to grind … and don’t strive for fairness and accuracy to the extent that newspapers do,” said MacRae.

But on the subject of climate change, blogs are doing a better job of informing readers about the complexities of the issue, because newspapers have generally adopted the official line of, “The science is settled, we are the experts,” says MacRae.

“If newspapers don’t dig beneath the surface of the issues they cover, something many blogs do well, then newspapers don’t deserve a readership,” MacRae said.

Van Luven, a Canadian journalist since 1968, agrees that the Internet can be a credible source of news.

“If a group of committed young reporters banded together to report on a subject, say ecology and urban life, and conducted themselves with integrity and turned up fascinating stuff that was both well-researched and well-written, then that site would be far preferable to many newspapers,” she said.

These websites will fit in well with the rapidly-changing news industry, as media conglomerates like CanWest Global Communications collapse and other media companies pick off their more profitable papers one by one in bankruptcy sales.

Van Luven says this fragmentation is not necessarily a bad thing, and is nothing new.

“Newspaper and magazine audiences have been fragmenting since the early 80s,” she said. “I would like to hope that we will gradually reorganize ourselves around issues of civic concern. After all, a lot of people are mad at Stephen Harper these days, an antipathy that seems to cut across age and income boundaries quite nicely.”

Though all three experts agree that ours is an interesting time for the news media, they differ as to what the outcome will be. MacRae says that, for news to survive, it must go completely online to save resources in an expanding global population. Grove-White, however, sees a stark future for newspapers.

“Those who can adapt will do well, but those who cling to outmoded media and conventions will die. It’s a fascinating, exciting transitional period for news media,” she said.

While Van Luven agrees that the news industry is changing, she says that newspapers will survive in spite of the Internet.

“As long as younger people continue to be curious, to care about education and feel invested in politics, democracy and ethics, I think the modes of communication will slowly sort themselves out,” she said. “Some people will always love to feel connected to the written word by holding a book or a magazine or a newspaper. Others will prefer getting all information immediately, online. I’m hopeful there’s room for variety.”