What the future of journalism will be is a question that no one can answer confidently. Journalism is usually a volatile profession to be in, but recently it has seemed ever more unstable, due to the rise of the online media.
It seems obvious that the media needs to harness the power of online journalism better, and there is a chance that this may be done through the use of ‘pay walls’.
A pay wall is when a reader is required to pay to access online newspaper content – currently most newspaper articles published online are free to view. The introduction of pay walls would change this, and may make the online media more profitable.
It also may discourage people from reading articles online, which would bring readers back to the print medium. The idea of pay walls is –obviously – quite unpopular with readers, so if they become more widely used by newspapers on their websites, the use of online media may decrease.
Also, it seems inevitable that convergence will be an important part in the future of journalism. Online media could be seen as the medium where convergence works best, as it features print journalism and elements of broadcast: videos and audio podcasts.
