By Danielle Charbonneau
Student Writer
Former Washington Post executive editor Leonard Downie Jr. joined School of Journalism director Geneva Overholser, Dean Ernest J. Wilson III and a group of “half-century Trojans” who graduated at least 50 years ago, at the Feb. 19 Journalism Director’s Forum to discuss potential business models for newspapers as the industry continues to face challenges brought by the economy and rise of the Internet.
Downie, who served as the Post’s executive director from1991-2008 after managing the paper for seven years and working as a metro reporter for 15, offered up his knowledge of the industry, which he said is “obviously in a crisis right now.”
“There’s very, very great concern about the future of journalism,” he said. “My charge is to look at all ideas with an open mind.”
One idea Downie mentioned was for cable companies to charge subscribers micropayments for the number of page views users accumulate on media sites. The issue of what constitutes a media Web site is an obvious point of contention, raised by one audience member.
Another strategy would be for all newspaper Web sites to charge subscription charges. The Wall Street Journal, Downie noted, succeeds with online subscription charges. The Journal, however, is unique in the sense that business people have a vested interest in the paper and can often write off the cost in their taxes. Most papers, Downie predict, will not agree to switch over to a subscription system and, as journalism professor Marc Cooper pointed out, users will most likely not pay for something they are used to getting for free.
“Isn’t charging the consumer for news going down a blind alley?” Cooper asked.
Charging news aggregators such as Google and Yahoo! could be one strategy, but as Downie pointed out, profit accumulated by doing so would not help much.
Downie’s overarching fear is what will happen to accountability journalism – journalism that keeps watch over the system and serves as a check in democracy.
New sites such as voiceofsandiego.org exist on a foundation grant and focus solely on accountability journalism. We may see more sites like this flourish in other cities as well, Downie said. And as Overholser pointed out, good editors “cut staff discerningly,” keeping in mind the paper’s most vital role in the community.
But as Downie responded, not all cuts have been so discerning.
“I am shocked at the current state of these newspapers,” he said.
Newspaper staff cuts have haunted large papers over the past several years.
“It’s a vicious cycle – you’d like to go interrupt it,” Downie said.
But even as the conversation seemed to come to no conclusions, there were some rays of light.
The Internet serves as an incredible research tool for reporters — such as in the Virginia Tech shootings when a Facebook posting led to an exclusive story for the Washington Post — and millions of Internet users keep reporters in check, finding and exposing anything that’s false or misleading.
“American journalism is in the best state it’s ever been,” Downie said. “Millions of bloggers are great for me.”
And the multi-media aspect of the Internet, Downie said, is a great thing. He predicts Web sites will take over broadcast media.
“I think there will be newspapers longer than evening local news,” he said.
The Internet, Downie also said, proves more people are consuming the news.
“Our daily page views are well over 10 million,” he said. “Our journalism is more valued than ever before.”
