Legacy outlets hold the advantage when it comes to the two most pressing issues: transparency and investigative journalism. Those “old school” companies will make bold business moves against newer organizations that they couldn’t win when the game was tilted more toward sheer scale.
Those who can articulate and help readers understand who we are as a society will now break out of academic salons and the literary set. These reporters don’t just mirror readers’ own views and are accessible both in language and platforms.
The investigative arms race continues while media companies continue to face financial struggles. As younger news organizations focus less on investigative units and many traditional organizations cut back those teams, this new emphasis means news organizations will need to find ways to compensate for those resources by cutting elsewhere and/or maximizing their existing manpower and resources.
Megan H. Chan is director of digital operations at The Washington Post.
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