The demise of journalism in Australia

The 24/7 news cycle forces competing news agencies to out scoop each other, all jousting for relevance in a cluttered marketplace. Tabloid style reporting, the rise of the celebrity culture and voyeurism are all contributing to the decline of investigative journalism in Australia.

This is a terrible shame, journalism using traditional mediums is in decline; newspapers, once the domain of media moguls still exert influence but are numbered due to the revenue loss through classified advertising affecting the financial viability.

Contracted journalists sitting in the Canberra press gallery reported political issues to the masses, this still happens to a certain degree. But instead of being employed directly by the media company, the journalist is now an independent contractor working freelance with blogs providing content for electronic distribution of media companies.

Traditional newsprint in the form of spreadsheet newspapers are my favoured news medium but is considered too static in the digital age. News radio, television and internet reporting are the preferred distribution in an interconnected world offering breaking news to the masses.

The News of the World scandal in the United Kingdom highlighted the depths to that journalism (for want of a better word) can sink. Tapping people's mobile phones surely is fueled by the public creating demand for such reporting.

The celebrity culture and news cycle generating such content can only be broken when consumer demand dries up - we the public created this problem.