“Ultimately, someday, the print product will be gone… Only a few major national or international newspaper ‘brands’ will survive in electronic form, and that local news will come to be delivered by, and attached to, a variety of other online services.” (Kelly Toughill – http://j-source.ca/article/why-newspaper-headed-extinction-study )

Lara Sinclair clarifies the notion of a slow death of traditional newspapers, noting they “will cease to exist in seven years.” Sinclair also suggests that newsprint will be “insignificant” in 52 countries by 2040 – replaced by technologies such as “lightweight, interactive digital paper that can show video, but can also be rolled and folded.” Online journalism is essentially ‘taking over’ traditional forms, with many job losses expected: Modifications in journalism production is critical.

Online journalism has become such a crucial focus with many preferring digital journalism over “newspapers”, that consequently large corporations have altered the way they present their news. In the article, http://www.niemanlab.org/2014/05/the-new-york-times-is-restructuring-its-page-1-meetings-to-be-more-digital-as-that-big-report-suggested/, the Nieman Journalism Lab discuss the New York Times leaked innovation for moving in a more digital news direction, due to the concern in competitors’ fast advancements – “Some of our traditional competitors have aggressively reorganized around a digital-first rather than a print-first schedule”
The article goes on to say that the publisher’s son repeated insistently the need to keep moving toward being “digital first.”
Dale Crossman tweeted on the 29th of May, “The New York Times is restructuring its Page 1 meetings to be more digital (as that big report suggested)”. – This is evidence that the New York Times, along with other large newspapers, are acting quickly in order for their traditional journalism to stay alive.
By adapting the way they present their news, and incorporating digital and online journalism, the New York Times hope to keep their status in the technological age.

Will they soon become extinct? What do you think?

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There are many ethical debates as to whether aggregating and curating information is legal, and whether it is acceptable to use other people’s original work for profit. In an article written by Steve Buttry, (http://stevebuttry.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/aggregation-guidelines-link-attribute-add-value/.) he recommends the use of an accuracy checklist derived from Craig Silverman’s guidelines, that includes checking attribution before you turn a story in or publish in order to keep the content legal and ethical. Buttry’s guidelines include: always link to original source, always include clear attribution, always use quotation marks when you use someone else’s words, add value by summarising or comparing and do not copy.
In this article ( http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/journalist-launches-news-curation-and-aggregation-platform/s2/a556014/?utm_content=bufferabb4d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer ) the author covers a variety of pros of aggregating and curating stories. The article debates that this form of journalism is crucial in contemporary journalism, as it allows for one to form their own opinion based on a number of sources, all accessible from the one place. The article also argues that people can easily share and save news stories, which is extremely important and valuable in today’s society. The Author quotes Mark Potts describing Newspeg (an aggregated and curated site) as “a site where people can really easily share and save news stories, in a visual kind of way, in a way that picks up graphics from the story but also lets people know where it came from”.

Aside from ethical problems, there is various debate around the legality of aggregation. In the article ( http://www.niemanlab.org ), kimberly Isbell and many others believe that using others people’s work is un-just, particularly to those who own the original article. To differentiate between stealing and violating copyright a curated piece of work one must reference, link and attribute appropriately.

So is aggregating and curating ethical and/or legal? For one to make their aggregated piece legal, as mentioned they must reference appropriately. Using other people’s work for profit is not ethical in the eyes of many yet it allows such a valuable element of journalism in the growing age of efficiency and accessibility.

What do YOU think about this up-coming issue in contemporary Journalism?