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Is the Internet Bad News for Journalism?

Coverage getting narrower, not broader, new report says

By Laila Weir,  Newser User

Posted Mar 17, 2008 2:15 PM CDT

(Newser) – The Internet is changing journalism—but not in the ways many predicted. Contrary to expectations that coverage would broaden, a new report says the news agenda is actually narrowing. The Iraq war and presidential campaign represented more than a quarter of news stories last year, while countries besides Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan drew less than 6% of US news, reports the AP.

Rather than more stories and more perspectives, online journalism in many cases simply means websites that repackage news produced elsewhere, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism. The news side of journalism is dynamic, says the report, but the ability of consumers to find ad-free news is hurting the business side, and organizations are shrinking their staffs.

A Cambodian blogger, Hor Virak, tests the network connection of his laptop computer at the Cambodian Bloggers Summit in the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007.
A Cambodian blogger, Hor Virak, tests the network connection of his laptop computer at the Cambodian Bloggers Summit in the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007.   (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Eighth grader Eyck Freymann updates his blog as he poses for a photograph in his home in New York, Friday Feb. 8, 2008.  Freymann blogs about politics on his own Web site.
Eighth grader Eyck Freymann updates his blog as he poses for a photograph in his home in New York, Friday Feb. 8, 2008. Freymann blogs about politics on his own Web site.   (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)
Chak Sopheap, a Cambodian Web log user, or blogger, surfs her blog during the Cambodian Bloggers Summit in the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Aug. 31, 2007.
Chak Sopheap, a Cambodian Web log user, or blogger, surfs her blog during the Cambodian Bloggers Summit in the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Aug. 31, 2007.   (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
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