The future of journalism is crowdsourced, says futurist

I’m in agreement with self-styled futurist Ross Dawson and his predictions for the future of newspapers.

I wrote a post a couple of years ago that outlined that news was moving away from being printed on dead trees and onto to e-readers, and that today’s major newspapers are going to have to distinguish themselves as islands of quality if they are to survive in a sea of a abundance.

Dawson takes the argument further claiming that by 2022 newspapers will be irrelevant and that by that time most journalism will be crowdsourced.

Here are his main points:

• By 2022 newspapers as we know them will be irrelevant. However the leading newspaper publishers of today may have transformed themselves to thrive in what will be a flourishing media industry.
• Media revenues will soar but will be unevenly distributed. We are shifting to a “media economy” dominated by content and social connection. Yet established media organisations will need to reinvent themselves to participate in that growth.
• The successors to the iPad will be our primary news interfaces. We will most commonly consume news on portable devices, of which the iPad will be recognised as the forerunner.
• Digital news readers will cost less than $10. By 2020 entry-level devices to read the news will cost less than $10 and often be given away. More sophisticated news readers will be foldable or rollable, gesture controlled and fully interactive.
• Journalism will be increasingly crowdsourced. Substantial parts of investigative journalism, writing and news production will be ‘crowdsourced’ to hordes of amateurs overseen by professionals.
• The reputation of individual journalists will drive audiences. Many journalists, most leading experts in their fields, will still be employed, with public reputation measures guiding audiences on how much to trust their work.

Looking at how the newspaper industry is developing this seems about right. My bet is it won’t be too long before Mr Murdoch tries to woo us with subsidised e-readers in exchange for taking out a subscription to his titles.

Turbulent but exciting times for journalism.

Posted via email from fakingIt