Taking Stock of Newspapers and Their Future

Abstract

In this essay, we will touch upon many subjects that are contributing to the changing face of daily newspapers in the United States. We begin with a brief and conclusory definition of editorial freedom in news, the foundation of journalism, and the key to its educational function in the news setting. We will then turn to markets, technology, economics, organization of the news firm, operation of the newsroom, and the changing definition of news. Our purpose is to identify deep changes that are occurring in the nature and institutions of news, changes that will continue to evolve in un-foreseeable but perhaps controllable ways as the Twenty-first Century unfolds.

Keywords: daily newspapers, editorial freedom, journalism, news industry, market