Will newspapers be around in the near future?
Journalist Ethan Fry ’04 thinks so, although he acknowledged that the landscape of the business is dramatically changing to keep up with technologies and consumers. Fry, a newspaper reporter for the Danbury, Connecticut-based News-Times and former Mirror editor, spoke recently to a Fairfield University journalism class on how technology is changing the way in which news is reported.
“People will always need something to read…on the toilet or on the train,” Fry said. “There will always be a place for newspapers.”
Fry noted that those same papers have not faded away just yet.
According to him, people are still fanatical about the print version and his newspaper’s office constantly receives calls when something is missing or incorrect in print. Although, Fry said, these people are dying off.
However, the 25-year-old Fry did not deny that there is certainly a shift taking place in the news industry.
Most small to mid-size newspapers are now understaffed, overworked and trying to stay in business, according to Fry.
This is not all bad though, as he pointed out that it is forcing media corporations to think outside the box and try new ideas and new ways of reporting. Fry referred to this as “convergence,” the new trend of the media world that now has news organizations reporting in a variety of mediums; print, still image, video and online, to draw in more consumers.
Fry has personally experienced the way in which convergence has changed the media. He explained how earlier in the day, prior to the talk, he was on the scene of a house fire, covering the story.
Along with taking notes and doing interviews for a print story, he took out his cell phone and shot some videos on his two megapixel video phone, which he then sent to the newspaper’s webmaster to upload on the paper’s Web site.
Fry also said that he was not only reporting, but also working as a copy editor and filling in for the webmaster on occasion. Fry said this required him to learn how to use HyperText Markup Language, commonly referred to as HTML, as well as having to learn how to shoot still images and videos.
Through these experiences and new skills gained, Fry insists journalism is all about learning new things and being able to pass that newfound knowledge onto others. According to him, he does not see convergence as an issue that is going to ruin the news media or the quality of the reporting, rather as just another way of making a story compelling to consumers.
“A story is a story, regardless of medium,” Fry said, “and if you can tell it halfway decent, you’ll always find work.”
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