Journalism is rapidly changing, but not disappearing, panelists said at Monday night's "The Kalb Report" at the National Press Club.
The theme of the discussion was the future of journalism, and former "Meet the Press" host Marvin Kalb guided the panel of four prominent media executives.
The Internet has had a vast impact on American media, panelists said, and traditional news outlets - such as newspapers and broadcasters - need to embrace online journalism to survive. The show, which is aired on radio and television, is a panel discussion jointly sponsored by GW, Harvard University's Shorenstein Center and the National Press Club.
"Western Civilization has this great idea that people are sovereign, but that can only happen when the people are informed," said Anne Marie Lipinski, editor and vice president of the Chicago Tribune. "The health of this industry is not vital just to those employed in the media, but to all of us."
To illustrate the drastic shifts in the journalism industry, Kalb cited statistics about the downtrend of the news business. He said 18,000 media employees lost their jobs last year and profits for traditional media outlets are plummeting.
Panelists said these drastic figures are due to traditional media being forced into a new era where they no longer have a monopoly on news. Lipinski stressed how consumers are less reliant on hard-copy newspapers.
"(People aren't) holding their breath and waiting for the paper to drop on their front porch at 6 in the morning," she said. "If they want to read about Anna Nicole Smith or Darfur, they have 20 different outlets."
Cliff Sloan, publisher of the online magazine Slate, said he represented the future of journalism as one of the leading Internet news and analysis sites. He said it was rough in the beginning, but that times are changing.
"All the predictions said Slate wasn't going to make it," he said. "They thought people weren't going to be interested in quality journalism online."
The theme of the discussion was the future of journalism, and former "Meet the Press" host Marvin Kalb guided the panel of four prominent media executives.
The Internet has had a vast impact on American media, panelists said, and traditional news outlets - such as newspapers and broadcasters - need to embrace online journalism to survive. The show, which is aired on radio and television, is a panel discussion jointly sponsored by GW, Harvard University's Shorenstein Center and the National Press Club.
"Western Civilization has this great idea that people are sovereign, but that can only happen when the people are informed," said Anne Marie Lipinski, editor and vice president of the Chicago Tribune. "The health of this industry is not vital just to those employed in the media, but to all of us."
To illustrate the drastic shifts in the journalism industry, Kalb cited statistics about the downtrend of the news business. He said 18,000 media employees lost their jobs last year and profits for traditional media outlets are plummeting.
Panelists said these drastic figures are due to traditional media being forced into a new era where they no longer have a monopoly on news. Lipinski stressed how consumers are less reliant on hard-copy newspapers.
"(People aren't) holding their breath and waiting for the paper to drop on their front porch at 6 in the morning," she said. "If they want to read about Anna Nicole Smith or Darfur, they have 20 different outlets."
Cliff Sloan, publisher of the online magazine Slate, said he represented the future of journalism as one of the leading Internet news and analysis sites. He said it was rough in the beginning, but that times are changing.
"All the predictions said Slate wasn't going to make it," he said. "They thought people weren't going to be interested in quality journalism online."
