Most journalism fails to differentiate itself clearly enough as a valuable product in the new media marketplace. It becomes increasingly clear that the formulas and approaches that characterize a large share of “serious” American journalism need an overhaul if the news is to survive as something different from propaganda or entertainment.
Predictor: Hume, Ellen
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 research paper titled “Tabloids, Radio and the Future of News,” Ellen Hume of the Annenberg Washington Program writes:”It is unfair to lump all ‘journalism’ together because it ranges from the tabloid extreme of The National Enquirer to the respectability of the National Journal. However, even at its best, most journalism fails to differentiate itself clearly enough as a valuable product in the new media marketplace. It becomes increasingly clear that the formulas and approaches that characterize a large share of ‘serious’ American journalism need an overhaul if the news is to survive as something different from propaganda or entertainment.”
Biography:Ellen Hume wrote “Tabloids, Talk Radio and the Future of News: Technology’s Impact on Journalism” as an Annenberg Senior Fellow at Northwestern University in 1995. She had previously served as executive director of the Joan Shorenstein Barone Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Her work analyzed how media, politics and government interact. She was a White House correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, served as National Reporter for the Los Angeles Times and also worked at the Detroit Free Press. (Research Scientist/Illuminator.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: Journalism/Media
Name of publication: Tabloids, Talk Radio and the Future of News
Title, headline, chapter name: The Opportunity: The Medium or the Message?
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.ellenhume.org/articles/tabloids3.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Little, Brandi W.