The death of field reporting = the death of news
If field reporting dies out, the world will become a less known place. Vast areas will simply not be covered, and those that are will not be covered from multiple perspectives. Precisely because reporters are imperfect, because they by necessity capture only a fragment of reality, it is essential that numerous firsthand accounts exist. --The Death of the News
I have to admit that the idea of newspapers dying out really scares me. But this has been happening for the majority of my lifetime, if not all of it. I remember in middle school having to sell our puny school paper for $.50 a copy, and it wasn't a big surprise that no one wanted to buy it... Then in high school, our publication was distributed for free, because our advertising paid for it. But, students threw the paper in the trash without taking much time to read the "news" section. Kids usually navigated straight to the features and entertainment sections. I'll even admit that before I actually worked on the staff for my high school paper, I rarely read the paper at all. And, I'm ashamed of that. But the fact remains that people don't care to read about something that they can just watch on tv. And, with the rising population of bloggers, people are spreading their own news without the need for the media's interpretation.
If we lose field reporting, though, I feel like journalism as a whole will come to a halt. Sure bloggers can do a great job writing about topics, but what point does it serve without quotes? When I was in high school, my journalism teacher always enforced the use of as many quotes as possible. The point of being a journalist is not to share our own opinions (with the exception of columns and sometimes reviews), but to share with the public the opinions and thoughts of their peers. Even if we do not always see eye to eye, it is essential to provide the whole story. What kind of news story doesn't have any direct quotes from the eye witnesses? Without field reporting, without interviewing, what's the point in calling yourself a journalist?
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