A recent survey of former LA Times journalists, 124 of them to be exact, were surveyed about the future of the paper they once worked for.
Sadly, 84 percent of them expect the LA Times to eventually fold. Their prognosis for the newspaper business as a whole was almost equally grim. Only 25 percent of them believe that the newspaper industry can weather the current economic crunch.
The opinions varied from person-to-person, as was expected. One interesting one was a worker who expected the newspaper industry to make it, but become entirely different as a mode of survival.
“Most papers will evolve into local rags with a heavy emphasis on entertainment and other ‘news you can use’ and time-wasting blogs to keep people entertained,” he said. This is lending credence to the Rupert Murdochs of the world who believe that sensationalist journalism is the way to go.
A somewhat heartening result of this survey found that 42 percent of these laid-off journalists share an opinion in common with me. These people believe that if the newspaper industry were to go under, quality, independent journalism will persevere in some form.
To me, this is the absolute right attitude. I don’t have a crystal ball, so in no way could I predict the future of newspapers. I can predict, though, that people will always want good journalism, and won’t always want juicy and salacious gossip.
This will survive, and so will journalis. Even if the papers disappear.
