By Rebecca Friedman
Washington, D.C.--Leading journalists said Tuesday the decline of mainstream news bureaus in Washington, D.C., is threatening the journalist's role of "watchdog."
Politicians, for example, have a tendency to make themselves look better to local voters and it's the job of the reporters to catch that.
Melinda Wittstock the founder and CEO of Capital News Connection, said, as part of a panel, "All too often they [the politicians] ask me are you local press or national," "Why are you asking me that? Is it a different story if I'm local or national?"
Professor Wendell Cochran the moderator of the panel and School of Communications faculty member, agreed that a main job of journalists is to be "on the ground" in the Capitol with experience.
"You can't let those people run around Washington without a chaperone," said Cochran, eliciting laughter.
"The government is getting large," added Wittstock. We need a watchdog.
Tyler Marshall, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist said these developments could threaten the democratic powers for voters. The voters do not find how they voted until after their local representative has already made the decision.
"They're finding out how they vote largely from press releases from the staff, which is far from objective."
Wittstock said that reporters are best able to speak to important Washington policymakers such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "Regular folks can't do that," said Wittstock. "That's why we have to."
Despite some bad news for print journalism, which has declining since 2005 by 2.8 percent daily, the panelists agreed that the Internet has opened opportunities for reporters.
"The Internet is adding jobs for the short term," said Marshall who has just completed a comprehensive study on "The New Washington Press Corps" for the Project for Excellence in Journalism. The study shows while there is a decline in mainstream press, there is as strong a growth in narrow, special interest niche press . According to Marshall's study the number speciality magazines, newspapers and newsletters, has risen by half since the mid-1980s. Newsletters alone are up nearly two thirds.
Panelists said blogs are another avenue for reporting. "They will not go anywhere anytime soon. I think they're pretty permanent," said Suzanne Struglinski, senior editor of Provider magazine.
"I think there is more room for entrepreneurship. Report, blog and so forth and make a name for yourself," said Mark Whitaker, the senior vice president for NBC News. Blogs can be found on many newspapers websites and are used to display news and some blogs are just used for smaller stories. It is just another out for reporting in these papers. Mainstream media is till trying to figure out how to use blogging to their best advantage, according to the panel.
At the American Forum, sponsored by WAMU 88.5 and C-SPAN the panelist were able to answer the questions of students who attended the evening and give advice in their fields of work. The audience could hear the the C-SPAN music playing in the background and part of Mary Graydon was taken up by the shows camera crew. The American Forum has been a part of the SOC for the past 20 years. This forum was called Washington Watchdogs: An Endangered Species?
Despite the challenges in the business, students attending the forum sought advice on how to become journalists.
"You need good interviewing skills and good research skills," advised Struglinski, a former regional reporter.
"Being a good writer is key in any job," added Whitaker.
The panelists said new journalists need to go to a news outlet or create their own media outlet that will pay them. With the economic model falling there are journalists who have to find other ways to make a livings, Struglinski being an example. A student asked if there was a danger to journalists making money rather then focusing on finding and reporting the news first.
"You need to go where the paycheck is," said Marshall. "It's not because they [mainstream media] don't want the reporters. The business model is collapsing around us."
The panelist agreed that despite the financial crisis in the journalism industry, they still loved their profession.
"My children asked me why I wanted to be a journalists," said Marshall. "I told them I never wanted to grow up."
Struglinski agreed. "It's a front seat to history. You can see amazing things and get to tell everyone about it."
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