http://digitalnewsjournalist.com/2010/02/03/the-digital-future-of-foreign-reporting/ Tips, tools and resources for multimedia journalism Sun, 18 Jul 2010 02:04:45 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 http://digitalnewsjournalist.com/2010/02/03/the-digital-future-of-foreign-reporting/comment-page-1/#comment-4526 Peter Bengelsdorf Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:32:48 +0000 http://digitalnewsjournalist.com/?p=897#comment-4526 Media companies that scale back foreign coverage are short-sighted. They serve an educated public in communities bustling with immigrants from everywhere. Their communities are increasingly affected by international trade. That would seem to justify the faith of the journalists in this encouraging story, but we must hope that technology now accomplishes what it's failed to do so far: digitally replicating the consumer-friendly experience of reading a newspaper, and replacing the business formulas that made newspapers so profitable. The urgency of preserving and creating jobs with good salaries can't be overstated. There are always exceptions, but in the long term the profession can't attract the best and brightest if it doesn't pay. If you ever have an hour or two to spend with a library microfilm reader, browse through some of the stuff that regional newspapers published in the 1940s and '50s. It's shockingly bad, and it took several generations to overcome. (Sorry about the microfilm. Most of those editions haven't been digitized yet.) Media companies that scale back foreign coverage are short-sighted. They serve an educated public in communities bustling with immigrants from everywhere. Their communities are increasingly affected by international trade.
That would seem to justify the faith of the journalists in this encouraging story, but we must hope that technology now accomplishes what it’s failed to do so far: digitally replicating the consumer-friendly experience of reading a newspaper, and replacing the business formulas that made newspapers so profitable.
The urgency of preserving and creating jobs with good salaries can’t be overstated. There are always exceptions, but in the long term the profession can’t attract the best and brightest if it doesn’t pay.
If you ever have an hour or two to spend with a library microfilm reader, browse through some of the stuff that regional newspapers published in the 1940s and ’50s. It’s shockingly bad, and it took several generations to overcome. (Sorry about the microfilm. Most of those editions haven’t been digitized yet.)

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