A Few Questions on the Death of News

Is Today’s ‘News’ Even Journalism?

Jaci Clement
2 min readAug 4, 2023
Photo by Taras Shypka on Unsplash

The decline of news is a hot topic in these times, and while it’s a valid concern, the part of the discussion that is overlooked is this: How much news is enough news for a community?

There is no formula, other than to compare how many news outlets a community has now versus how many outlets it once had. The fault here is in assuming that the latter number was in some way correct or appropriate in providing the community with adequate news coverage in the first place. Who decided that?

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Today news reports focus on losing a printed newspaper as a litmus test on the state of news. But if the news outlet continues to report and publish news online instead of in print, that doesn’t matter. IA burial is still in order. The very simple equation that is in use calls for comparing newspapers to newspapers, not newspapers to news. Again, who decided that?

Taking an issue such as this out of context is easy, especially when the assigned story focuses on the death of news. How about offering a comprehensive look at all of the news sources a community has at its disposal, which might conflict with the assignment at hand — but may also shed light on the right mix of media a community needs today. This would mean mixing

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Jaci Clement

As CEO & Executive Director of the Fair Media Council, Jaci Clement is considered one of today's most influential media scholars. She welcomes your questions.