Is The Internet Killing Journalism?

According to the majority of media insiders polled by The Atlantic and National Journal, it is: 65 percent of the 45 respondents to the Atlantic/NJ media insiders poll said news consumption on the Internet has hurt journalism more than it has helped, while 34 percent said it's helped more.

Consensus was that the Internet has destroyed the old business model--the newspaper business model--that supported balanced, thoughtful journalism. It promotes sensationalism and trains people to consume news in smaller, bite-sized pieces, at least two insiders said. At the same time, it has widened the audience of news consumers and put more news at people's fingertips.

On a related note, I was talking to a friend recently about the pluses and minuses of the Drudge Report. My friend said (quotes from memory): "He just takes a story and puts a headline on it to make people like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton look bad." Then, later in the conversation: "I usually start my day by looking at the Drudge Report."

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/04/is-the-internet-killing-journalism/12979/