Monday, January 10, 2005

Views v News

The Guardian reports a fascinating debate prompted by the Independent's new strategy of remaking itself as a 'viewspaper'.

Format changes have boosted sales at the Independent and the Times, but alternative news sources such as rolling TV news stations are also forcing a rethink of editorial approach. Newspapers are no longer the primary source for breaking stories and must adapt accordingly.
"Alan Rusbridger said the Independent's conversion to a 'viewspaper' posed pivotal questions about the future of newspaper journalism. 'If you have got news organisations saying "we are putting news behind views", this is a fundamental statement about what newspapers are for and what journalism is for ... It is radically new, it is not what serious broadsheet journalism was about.'"

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