I’ve written my fair share of posts about the future of journalism and The Christian Science Monitor, so it seems only natural that I mention its Future of Journalism event last Thursday. The event, in part sponsored by COM, gathered Ellen Hume, the Research Director for the Center for Future Civic Media at MIT, Mark Jurkowitz, the Associate Director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, Douglas K. Smith, the Executive Director of The Sulzberger News Media Executive Leadership Program, and Sree Sreenivasan, the head of the new media program and Dean of Student Affairs at Columbia University’s journalism school, in a conversation with John Yemma, the Editor of the Monitor.

The topics ranged from how media will make money in the coming years to how journalism will fare as the business evolves, and all the panelists had something to offer the audience in the room and on the webcast. Notable highlights included:

  • Jurkorwitz spoke about 91% of news houses believing in the importance of investigative news pieces and commented that everyone is comfortable with the news going online. The question now is becoming, “Where will the quality news crop up?”
  • Smith said that we live in a market society where we’ve inherited an artificial but powerful divide between concern for value and values. We must find a balance between writing news that sells (value) with upholding journalistic integrity (values).
  • Sreenivasan addressed the growing trend of informed decisions from friends overtaking the media critics. As social media continues to grow, it will begin to influence the news media, though whether or not this effect will be a positive one is yet to be seen.
  • Hume said that while technology will play a greater and greater role, nothing will ever replace face-to-face contact. Interviews over email will never be the same and for that journalists will always be in demand.

If you want to hear and see more of the event, you can watch online or download a video of the event here.

On one hand it felt nice to watch this event and feel reassured that the news isn’t lost, as I’ve said before. But, as graduation approaches, I still can’t shake the feeling that it’s going to be no easy thing for me to find a job in a few months. The innovation’s coming but, as a certain editor at The Boston Globe told a class I’m taking, it’s still a few years out. What about the meantime? For now the business is still very much contracting. The news is safe, but for the foreseeable future the same isn’t necessarily true for me.

So what’s the answer? I’ve never had any delusions about paying my dues in the news business, but how long will that take? Where will the jobs be? Let us know what you think.