Web exclusive: MSU's School of Journalism presents summit on state of news industry

Finding solutions to current journalism industry problems was the main focus for Friday’s second segment of the Rethink News presented by the MSU School of Journalism.

The discussion featured a 12-person panel, which consisted of people from various professions as well as high school and college students. Panelists were divided into groups to discuss the future of journalism and how to overcome the changing landscape of the profession. The first installment of Rethink News took place in May.

Even though the current journalism industry is in peril, the news industry works, said Jonathan Morgan, a media and information studies graduate student. Morgan, who was a panelist, remains hopeful the news industry works, and he attributes the industry’s increased job loss to the inability to produce fast news.

“There aren’t as many reporters,” Morgan said. “It works when we have lots of newsrooms and reporters, but it isn’t working as well now.”

The second group focused its discussion on the traditional set of values and keeping opinion out of stories unless they are on the opinion pages.

Celebrities aren’t news and they shouldn’t be on news networks, said panelist Nick Eaton, editor-in-chief of the East Lansing High School newspaper, The Trojan Trumpet.

“We want people we can trust,” Eaton said. “There’s nobody we can really trust right now.”

Journalism sophomore Hayley Beitman attended the event because of the encouragement of her Journalism 300 professor.

“He thought it was important for students to be heard, share feelings and opinions of all age groups, not just one,” Beitman said.

One of the ways journalism senior and panelist Aaron Olson said the industry can be helped is through more public interaction with media sources before the content is produced.

“News industries are abandoning people,” Olson said. “They need to bring people in and get them involved in the process. By getting more people involved in the process, there will be more interest in helping journalism.”

Some discussion revolved around the Internet and networking sites such as Facebook, since social networking sites are providing people with more news at a faster pace. The panel discussed why news outlets are behind the times in that aspect.

“They don’t care,” Olson said. “They are unreceptive of outside ideas.”

Even though students use social networking sites for social information, many young people are using the sites for news as well, said panelist Nic Clark, a 2009 political science alumus.

“News was viewed as a source,” Clark said. “Now, people aren’t going to (news outlets). The news is coming to them. It’s something traditional outlets aren’t doing.”