"Journalism is dead because it killed itself", was the verdict of Michael Rosenblum who was speaking at RTÉ MoJoCon earlier today.
Criticising the arrogance of traditional media, the CEO of VJ.com said "The internet ate our lunch. If there is no revenue there is no journalism. We have to rethink the way the whole industry works."
The acclaimed television and video journalist was speaking as part of a panel discussing Is Journalism Dead? at RTÉ's mobile journalism and technology conference.
"We got screwed because we didn’t pay attention" said Rosenblum, challenging the audience of journalists to "wise up" to modern technologies, realising in particular the potential of the smartphone for citizen journalism.
"The only way we will survive is if we accept the fact that everyone has a voice and everyone should be heard."
Not everyone agreed. Irish journalist Samantha Barry disagreed, saying "Is journalism dead? Absolutely not."
'Is Journalism Dead?'. No, says @samanthabarry of @CNN, it's old media habits that are dead. Follow our #MoJoCon live stream on RTE.ie. pic.twitter.com/dSCf43BWK7
— RTÉ (@rte) May 4, 2017
The Executive Producer for Social and Emerging Media at CNN Worldwide argued that while the old habits of legacy newsrooms may be dead, new and innovative platforms, particularly on mobile journalism, have evolved.
"That thing you have in your hand," she said, gesturing toward her smartphone, "has changed news habits."
US journalist Mark Joyella argued both pundits were right: "Journalism is not dead, it is going through a lifecycle change."
"Journalism may be going through a wildfire right now, but ultimately new growth is coming up, new ways of telling stories that will mean we’ll be okay."
Reflecting on the proliferation of fake news and journalists being labelled an ‘enemy of the people’ by President Trump, the Forbes writer said "Journalism survived Stalin and Hitler and countries where today they are still being killed. Trump hasn’t got to the point of killing it just yet, just disparaging it."
The panel brought together speakers from CNN, Aljazeera and Digitas to discuss the crisis of confidence modern media is currently facing, including the perceived inability of news organisations to accurately predict outcomes and maintain the impartiality, credibility and respect required for of a free press.
The lively debate kicked off the 3-day RTÉ MoJoCon conference, focusing on mobile journalism, mobile content creation, mobile photography and new technology, and held in Radisson Blu Hotel in Galway city.
Rachel Lavin
