New business models don’t change values of journalists
For as long as I have been a journalist — 40 years — I have listened to criticism about journalism just about anywhere I go.
Inevitably, critics would hurl what they regarded as the ultimate charge against the work I have been so passionate about: “Well, you just want to sell papers!”
No, no no, I would then tell them. Newsroom journalists don’t really think about selling papers. That is not the motivation of journalists. Rather, we obsess about how many readers will pay attention to our work, the impact of our stories and making a difference — getting action that matters — through our reporting and commentary. We long told those critics that selling papers was the business of the circulation departments.
But no one can deny that journalists and news organizations operate in a new era now. And while the mission of journalism matters more than ever to journalists and citizens, it is becoming increasingly clear that journalists no longer have the luxury of ignoring the facts about how our work is funded. Increasingly, journalists must help our readers understand that trusted quality journalism is not free.
That is why you will now see journalists from the Star and other news organizations taking to social media to share their work, explain why they believe it matters and now even ask you to subscribe to help fund similar journalism.
News organizations now encourage their employees — including journalists — to do what they can to encourage needed subscriptions. Articles on the Star’s website now end with a message asking readers to support the Star’s journalism with a subscription to Star Digital Access.
Star editor Irene Gentle well understands it has become vital that journalists explain their work and why it matters.
“The commitment of journalists to their work, the efforts we make, is awe-inspiring to me,” she said. “With questions about trust and the in- dustry move toward subscriptions, we need to talk about that.
“The care, time and cost of good journalism, the dedication of reporters to getting it right, and the impact it has, is worth talking about. How can people know all that if we don’t show them?”
Given our past stance, not all journalists have been comfortable with what feels like a sea change. But none of us can ignore the fact that the old business model that allowed journalists and readers both to ignore the real costs of journalism is now history.
Reporting that matters to citizens and democracy costs money and the substantial advertising budgets that long funded reporting in communities across Canada has been decimated by digital disruption. More than 75 per cent of advertising dollars now go to Facebook and Google. Newsroom budgets and reporting staff have been slashed across this country and too many newsrooms have been shuttered entirely.
Indeed, Canada’s journalism industry is in dire straits.
That was made clear last week when the federal government announced a $595-million subsidy for Canadian news media organizations. Like many other journalists, I have mixed feelings about this and questions about what sort of journalism and news organizations will qualify for support and who decides what constitutes trusted journalism.
But I understand the new economics of the news industry. I now accept that what may have been unthinkable in past is now reality: the survival of the real reporting of original Canadian news that is essential to our democracy requires new forms of funding and new ways of thinking in newsrooms and beyond.
I am puzzled by those who argue these new measures might somehow compromise journalists, and particularly question the hypocrisy of those who’ve made this charge from perches that already receive government funding for journalism. Government dollars have long funded journalism through the CBC, a national magazine fund and other measures.
I cannot speak for all journalists of course, but I simply cannot believe that any Star journalist — bound by long-standing professional standards and a commitment to reader trust — will be any less committed to accuracy, fairness and journalistic independence because of government tax credits or other new ways of funding quality journalism.
Of course, we should not ignore public concerns entirely. This necessary debate about paying for news that matters is an opportunity to make clear the value of trustworthy news that puts accountability, transparency and clear journalistic ethics at its heart. Indeed, that is the real news I believe worth paying for.