State of the Art (or Craft or Business)?

I think journalists report better than the previous generation. I'm not so sure they write better.

 

Interesting observation. May be true.

We could have a conversation on what good reporting is. Data, I like. Incisive, insightful interviews, I like. Stuffing a story with an extra source for the sake of proving you talked to that person, not so much.

 

I think Shottie is right. Good reporters are really valuable in the Twitter age...get that info out super fast. But this is not an era in which anyone is demanding the big news story be all that well-written.

 

Access is entirely different than it was 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago. Not only a consumer's access to the craft but the creator's access to sources of information.

I can go online and transcribe quotes from a local NFL player in California and have a full story written and available to read an hour after the press conference. Many players are able and willing to go on podcasts with Joe Schmoe just to get their name out in the public light. A writer can self-start his way to become one of the most respected sources on a beat without needing to be employed by a paper to do so. Blogging is the new "foot in the industry" and not doing agate pages or typing up prep briefs.

 

You know what else proves that? Copy editors and/or fact checkers are an afterthought for many news outlets today. It's the first place they go to cut costs.

Before web sites, a reporter's final product would never leave the building without a second set of eyes.