What is the future of journalism?

There is no doubt that the Internet and innovations in information systems and database design are bringing about disruptive changes and challenges to journalism. As existing structures in news organizations break down and traditional news outlets struggle to adapt to the new environment, we seem to be at a critical juncture. In the "laboratory" or experimental arena in which new business models, journalism practice and new digital news organizations are emerging and developing, new media and old media are both competing and co-existing in the struggle to survive or die. The key driver of this change is the liquidity of information, the fact that information now flows across boundaries with ever-greater ease.

It is useful to envisage the future of journalism in the space-time created by this new fluidity of information. That is to say the depth, breath, diversity and speed of news production and distribution.

The first dimension is the depth. The future of journalism is likely to be defined by the multiple layering of interactions and news experiences. There will be more interaction between the producers and audiences, between professional journalists and audiences, and greater interaction among audiences. When it comes to news production and distribution, we can foresee the convergence or co-existence of old media and new media, as nearly all the news organizations will produce multimedia and interactive content and distribute it via a variety of platforms, newspaper, TV, radio, the Internet and cell phones.