Press Releases

04/24/06

Future of news debated at industry gathering in Las Vegas

By GARY GENTILE
AP Business Writer

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Technology that allows people to get their news faster and in more forms than ever must never supplant scrupulous reporting and careful writing, according to a panel of journalists and media executives.

Journalism is undergoing tremendous change, with blogs and citizen journalists proliferating and news consumers having more control over what they read, hear and see. But those advances do not change the need for media organizations to tackle tough subjects and report what they find, even when it's highly unpopular, the panel told the annual National Association of Broadcasters convention on Monday.

Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather said media companies should invest as much in efforts to gather news as they do on technology to distribute it.

"International coverage will continue to shrink unless those of us who believe it's important can make the case to the leadership and ownership that this is a public service," Rather said. "It may not help the demographics, it may not help the ratings. But it's the kind of coverage you have to have if you want to be a quality operation."

Tom Curley, president and CEO of The Associated Press, said quality journalism still depends on good reporters and the news organizations that support them.

He noted that the AP spent thousands of dollars in legal fees to force the government to release the names of suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"Those are the stories journalists have to do," Curley said.

But media companies have to deliver those stories in ways that match the speed of new delivery systems. "In terms of how it is distributed, people aren't going to wait," Curley said.

Jorge Ramos, co-anchor of a newscast seen on the Univision network, said journalism hasn't kept pace with changes in the world. For example, he said Hispanics still do not get the coverage commensurate with their status as the largest minority group in the country.

"I don't think we're doing our job right in terms of content," he said.

Ramos said the American press is spending a lot of resources reporting from Iraq and Afghanistan, often at the expense of other important international news.

"There are other parts of the world that we're ignoring," he said.

The panel was co-sponsored by the Radio and Television News Directors Association.

___
On the Net:
Radio and Television News Directors Association: http://www.rtnda.org