“How Would You Feel About A 100-Year-Old Doctor?”
This recent New York Times headline got me wondering if I was digital journalism’s version of a 100-year-old doctor. After all, I’m old enough to have my 50th high school reunion penciled in on my calendar for next year.
Why would Nieman Lab ask somebody as old as I am to predict the future of journalism?
My answer, as an AARP card-carrying Boomer, is that I’m predicting 2023 will be a year of intergenerational learning that will have a positive impact on the future of journalism. There is so much we can do together if we can build on the experiences that have shaped how we see the world and live our lives. Gen Xers, Millennials, Gen Zers, and Boomers, it’s time to join forces to make journalism that serves all of our communities and helps make our world a better place for all.
Here are some positive signs there is value in our hard-won gray hairs and wrinkles.
Admittedly, there are a lot of factors that could get in the way of my prediction coming true. One obvious one is that Boomers have the hubris to believe that we know what’s best. That’s just one of many justifiable reasons that our experience is undervalued. Members of my generation have had an unfair advantage due to our gender, race, and privilege. We may not even know what we don’t know or the harm we have caused.
That said, local news is in crisis. Public trust in journalism is at an all-time low. Our business model is failing. The first amendment is under attack. What does our industry have to lose? Maybe Boomers like me can leverage our experience to clean up some of the mess our generation created.
Check back with me next year to find out.
John Davidow is a founder of Media Bridge Partners.
“How Would You Feel About A 100-Year-Old Doctor?”
This recent New York Times headline got me wondering if I was digital journalism’s version of a 100-year-old doctor. After all, I’m old enough to have my 50th high school reunion penciled in on my calendar for next year.
Why would Nieman Lab ask somebody as old as I am to predict the future of journalism?
My answer, as an AARP card-carrying Boomer, is that I’m predicting 2023 will be a year of intergenerational learning that will have a positive impact on the future of journalism. There is so much we can do together if we can build on the experiences that have shaped how we see the world and live our lives. Gen Xers, Millennials, Gen Zers, and Boomers, it’s time to join forces to make journalism that serves all of our communities and helps make our world a better place for all.
Here are some positive signs there is value in our hard-won gray hairs and wrinkles.
Admittedly, there are a lot of factors that could get in the way of my prediction coming true. One obvious one is that Boomers have the hubris to believe that we know what’s best. That’s just one of many justifiable reasons that our experience is undervalued. Members of my generation have had an unfair advantage due to our gender, race, and privilege. We may not even know what we don’t know or the harm we have caused.
That said, local news is in crisis. Public trust in journalism is at an all-time low. Our business model is failing. The first amendment is under attack. What does our industry have to lose? Maybe Boomers like me can leverage our experience to clean up some of the mess our generation created.
Check back with me next year to find out.
John Davidow is a founder of Media Bridge Partners.
Joni Deutsch Podcast collaboration — not competition — breeds excellence
Jesse Holcomb Buffeted, whipped, bullied, pulled
Paul Cheung More news organizations will realize they are in the business of impact, not eyeballs
Dannagal G. Young Stop rewarding elite performances of identity threat
Al Lucca Digital news design gets interesting again
Nikki Usher This is the year of the RSS reader. (Really!)
Josh Schwartz The AI spammers are coming
John Davidow A year of intergenerational learning
Jaden Amos TikTok personality journalists continue to rise
Alan Henry A reckoning with why trust in news is so low
Dana Lacey Tech will screw publishers over
Matt Rasnic More newsroom workers turn to organized labor
Mauricio Cabrera It’s no longer about audiences, it’s about communities
Laura E. Davis The year we embrace the robots — and ourselves
Michael Schudson Journalism gets more and more difficult
A.J. Bauer Covering the right wrong
Ben Werdmuller The internet is up for grabs again
Leezel Tanglao Community partnerships drive better reporting
Elite Truong In platform collapse, an opportunity for community
Cory Bergman The AI content flood
Danielle K. Brown and Kathleen Searles DEI efforts must consider mental health and online abuse
Jessica Maddox Journalists keep getting manipulated by internet culture
Tre'vell Anderson Continued culpability in anti-trans campaigns
Simon Galperin Philanthropy stops investing in corporate media
Delano Massey The industry shakes its imposter syndrome
Eric Thurm Journalists think of themselves as workers
Christoph Mergerson The rot at the core of the news business
Peter Sterne AI enters the newsroom
Jessica Clark Open discourse retrenches
Surya Mattu Data journalists learn from photojournalists
Gina Chua The traditional story structure gets deconstructed
Brian Moritz Rebuilding the news bundle
Ryan Kellett Airline-like loyalty programs try to tie down news readers
Nicholas Diakopoulos Journalists productively harness generative AI tools
Moreno Cruz Osório Brazilian journalism turns wounds into action
Lisa Heyamoto The independent news industry gets a roadmap to sustainability
Sarah Alvarez Dream bigger or lose out
Michael W. Wagner The backlash against pro-democracy reporting is coming
Cindy Royal Yes, journalists should learn to code, but…
Ariel Zirulnick Journalism doubles down on user needs
Kavya Sukumar Belling the cat: The rise of independent fact-checking at scale
Karina Montoya More reporters on the antitrust beat
Anna Nirmala News organizations get new structures
Martina Efeyini Talk to Gen Z. They’re the experts of Gen Z.
Sue Schardt Toward a new poetics of journalism
Basile Simon Towards supporting criminal accountability
Taylor Lorenz The “creator economy” will be astroturfed
Priyanjana Bengani Partisan local news networks will collaborate
Jim Friedlich Local journalism steps up to the challenge of civic coverage
Joanne McNeil Facebook and the media kiss and make up
Victor Pickard The year journalism and capitalism finally divorce
Juleyka Lantigua Newsrooms recognize women of color as the canaries in the coal mine
Sarah Marshall A web channel strategy won’t be enough
Johannes Klingebiel The innovation team, R.I.P.
Anita Varma Journalism prioritizes the basic need for survival
Sue Robinson Engagement journalism will have to confront a tougher reality
Cassandra Etienne Local news fellowships will help fight newsroom inequities
Jakob Moll Journalism startups will think beyond English
Cari Nazeer and Emily Goligoski News organizations step up their support for caregivers
Jacob L. Nelson Despite it all, people will still want to be journalists
Felicitas Carrique and Becca Aaronson News product goes from trend to standard
Mael Vallejo More threats to press freedom across the Americas
Gordon Crovitz The year advertisers stop funding misinformation
Zizi Papacharissi Platforms are over
David Skok Renewed interest in human-powered reporting
Upasna Gautam Technology that performs at the speed of news
Parker Molloy We’ll reach new heights of moral panic
Rachel Glickhouse Humanizing newsrooms will be a badge of honor
Laxmi Parthasarathy Unlocking the silent demand for international journalism
Megan Lucero and Shirish Kulkarni The future of journalism is not you
Sam Guzik AI will start fact-checking. We may not like the results.
Emily Nonko Incarcerated reporters get more bylines
Don Day The news about the news is bad. I’m optimistic.
Raney Aronson-Rath Journalists will band together to fight intimidation
Amy Schmitz Weiss Journalism education faces a crossroads
Janelle Salanga Journalists work from a place of harm reduction
Anthony Nadler Confronting media gerrymandering
Brian Stelter Finding new ways to reach news avoiders
Barbara Raab More journalism funders will take more risks
Snigdha Sur Newsrooms get nimble in a recession
Errin Haines Journalists on the campaign trail mend trust with the public
Eric Ulken Generative AI brings wrongness at scale
Alexandra Borchardt The year of the climate journalism strategy
Andrew Donohue We’ll find out whether journalism can, indeed, save democracy
Sarabeth Berman Nonprofit local news shows that it can scale
Wilson Liévano Diaspora journalism takes the next step
Alex Sujong Laughlin Credit where it’s due
Shanté Cosme The answer to “quiet quitting” is radical empathy
Andrew Losowsky Journalism realizes the replacement for Twitter is not a new Twitter
Alexandra Svokos Working harder to reach audiences where they are
Julia Beizer News fatigue shows us a clear path forward
Sarah Stonbely Growth in public funding for news and information at the state and local levels
Molly de Aguiar and Mandy Van Deven Narrative change trend brings new money to journalism
Esther Kezia Thorpe Subscription pressures force product innovation
Peter Bale Rising costs force more digital innovation
Alex Perry New paths to transparency without Twitter
Joshua P. Darr Local to live, wire to wither
Sumi Aggarwal Smart newsrooms will prioritize board development
Walter Frick Journalists wake up to the power of prediction markets
David Cohn AI made this prediction
Masuma Ahuja Journalism starts working for and with its communities
J. Siguru Wahutu American journalism reckons with its colonialist tendencies
Jennifer Brandel AI couldn’t care less. Journalists will care more.
Amethyst J. Davis The slight of the great contraction
Mar Cabra The inevitable mental health revolution
Julia Angwin Democracies will get serious about saving journalism
Valérie Bélair-Gagnon Well-being will become a core tenet of journalism
Joe Amditis AI throws a lifeline to local publishers
Kerri Hoffman Podcasting goes local
Ryan Nave Citizen journalism, but make it equitable
Dominic-Madori Davis Everyone finally realizes the need for diverse voices in tech reporting
Richard Tofel The press might get better at vetting presidential candidates
Jonas Kaiser Rejecting the “free speech” frame
Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau More of the same
Jennifer Choi and Jonathan Jackson Funders finally bet on next-generation news entrepreneurs
Eric Holthaus As social media fragments, marginalized voices gain more power
Larry Ryckman We’ll work together with our competitors
Eric Nuzum A focus on people instead of power
Tamar Charney Flux is the new stability
Bill Grueskin Local news will come to rely on AI
Kirstin McCudden We’ll codify protection of journalism and newsgathering
Anika Anand Independent news businesses lead the way on healthy work cultures
Ayala Panievsky It’s time for PR for journalism
Kaitlyn Wells We’ll prioritize media literacy for children
Burt Herman The year AI truly arrives — and with it the reckoning
Hillary Frey Death to the labor-intensive memo for prospective hires
Nicholas Thompson The year AI actually changes the media business
Jody Brannon We’ll embrace policy remedies
Jarrad Henderson Video editing will help people understand the media they consume
Daniel Trielli Trust in news will continue to fall. Just look at Brazil.
Jenna Weiss-Berman The economic downturn benefits the podcasting industry. (No, really!)
Jim VandeHei There is no “peak newsletter”
Emma Carew Grovum The year to resist forgetting about diversity
Khushbu Shah Global reporting will suffer
Kaitlin C. Miller Harassment in journalism won’t get better, but we’ll talk about it more openly
Susan Chira Equipping local journalism
An Xiao Mina Journalism in a time of permacrisis
Janet Haven ChatGPT and the future of trust
Doris Truong Workers demand to be paid what the job is worth
Christina Shih Shared values move from nice-to-haves to essentials
Stefanie Murray The year U.S. media stops screwing around and becomes pro-democracy
Tim Carmody Newsletter writers need a new ethics
Mariana Moura Santos A woman who speaks is a woman who changes the world
Kathy Lu We need emotionally agile newsroom leaders
Bill Adair The year of the fact-check (no, really!)
Ståle Grut Your newsroom experiences a Midjourney-gate, too
Nicholas Jackson There will be launches — and we’ll keep doing the work
Pia Frey Publishers start polling their users at scale
Mary Walter-Brown and Tristan Loper Mission-driven metrics become our North Star
Francesco Zaffarano There is no end of “social media”
Sam Gregory Synthetic media forces us to understand how media gets made
Sue Cross Thinking and acting collectively to save the news