The Extinction of Journalism?

"The centuries-old profession of journalism is undergoing change so cataclysmic that it may soon be unrecognizable. The journalist as hero -- Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Bob Woodward -- has become displaced by the pundit. Advertising moved to the Internet, and the ground began crumbling as a disaster waiting to happen began." -- Kurt Cagle, TechNewsWorld

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I had a discussion with a Twitter friend last night about my disgust with the perversion of journalism, most notably the dogmatic opinion-spewing punditry of Fox News, which should be banned from using the word "news" in their name because of the laws against false advertising.

The Internet has furthered this corruption of the journalism trade by allowing every person with a computer to add their editorial to the information stream, regardless of facts and truth.

Journalism is founded on the dispassionate and completely objective reporting of events. Every journalist is charged with the responsibility of NOT inserting themselves into a story, no matter which side of the facts their personal feelings fall. Thanks to organizations like Fox News, such strictures have been obliterated. The sacred duty of reporting newsworthy events has been prostituted to the point of nonrecognition.

The Internet is putting the final nails in the coffin of print media. Centuries-old newspapers have buckled and stopped their printing presses forever as money and readership shifts to online venues.

As a former print journalist, this is a troubling and emotional turn of events. The purity and essential spirit of reporting the facts is being lost forever in this upheaval. We will all be the poorer for it.

OPINION IS NOT NEWS.

PUNDITS ARE NOT JOURNALISTS.

The Rise and Fall of Traditional Journalism

By Kurt Cagle
TechNewsWorld
Part of the ECT News Network

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3