Journalism In These Trying Times
By Cassandra Bent
BOSTON- “We just have to live with uncertainty. To me, there are no surprises anymore,” said Boston Globe Editor Marty Baron at Emerson College on Thursday, November 19th. Sitting alongside Baron was Boston Globe Publisher, Stephen Ainsley who agreed that he does not know “what they future holds.”
In a world where online news is beginning to rule, The Boston Globe has had to make cutbacks and changes to stay afloat. This forum, the second in a series of journalism forums at Emerson, discussed the changes for both the business side and the reporting side of newspapers.
This past year, The Boston Globe was on the market to be sold, had to reopen contracts with employees and ask for concessions, and was forced to make buy-outs and lay employees off. There was a 12% reduction of overall newsroom employees, and pay cuts of 23% for the employees that remained, according to Baron.
“All in all, it was certainly the most hellish year of my career,” said Marty Baron who had to encourage the newsroom and see them through the difficult time. He and Ainsley do not always agree about everything, and have a relationship embedded with “natural tension,” according to Ainsley.
However, Baron and Ainsley do agree on some things. For example, they both remain optimistic about The Boston Globe and journalism itself. Although they are uncertain about the future, both made projections.
Stephen Ainsley’s projections about the future were in regards to the business side of journalism. Ainsley discussed consumers’ desire for fast, up to date news. He also gave an example of the changes The Globe has made to give consumers what they want, which is regularly updated news on Boston.com.
“We’re still not real risk takers,” said Ainsley, who went on to say businesses in the industry have to make “smart, but calculated risks.” He brought up the ever present debate over whether to charge people for online news, and how to go about doing so. Ainsley mentioned that he likes Pandora’s method for making money on online products by charging people a fee to not have to view adds.
Marty Baron’s outlook for the future is one of optimism. “Opportunities are expanding,” said Baron. He discussed the future prospect for younger people to move up in the business much quicker than previously due to their vast knowledge of computers and the online world.
“It’s going to be a very different kind of field,” said Baron in regards to writing and reporting for newspapers. He outlined the qualities he feels journalists of the future will need to exhibit. Baron thinks journalists will have to “embrace change and uncertainty,” be “a bit of an entrepreneur,” be “more creative,” and “operate a bit more on his or her own.”
Although this past year has been a difficult one both for the business side and the reporting side of The Boston Globe, these two prominent figures are able to envision a different, but still bright future for this newspaper that is now incorporating the web.
The future of journalism is a hopeful one because according to Stephen Ainsley, due to the web, “More people are reading newspapers than ever before.” According to Marty Baron, the web gives reporters “the capacity to tell stories in new ways.” However, even with this evidence, only time will tell what the future holds for journalism.
