Let's be clear - real journalism will always be needed. Bloggers comment on news, therefore someone needs to be on the sharp end, sourcing the stories and reporting them. In my view blogs add comment, opinion and nurture debate. No more, no less. That's as it should be in the Web 2.0 world.
But nevertheless, journalists do need to be sharper, faster and more commercially-minded than ever. They need to marketers, publishers and salesman all in one. This is particularly prevalent in local media, where the effects of recession are being felt most. If signs in the US are anything to go by, local media could be going 'hyper-local' with journalists reporting independently on small areas and responsible for their whole business, not just the editorial.
Thankfully, I am not the only one thinking this way. This blog from Rick Waghorn is typical of many cropping up in the ether right now.
I think this is particularly refreshing and not a moment too soon. I have long advocated and practised running editorial and sales teams alongside each other, both as a business model and in terms of the physical layout of the office.
Only this way can each party understand what the other requires and make the publication work as a business, which, after all, is what keeps everyone employed.
Journalists - follow the lead set by many of your contemporaries and take up the entrepreneurial challenge!
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