Reason for this blog
This effort is to satisfy a requirement for a graduate class at the University of Minnesota, "The Future of News." For the final project we have been assigned a project that reflects the class discussions on the development of news and the role of journalism as it has evolved in the United States, and the role it has played in our democracy. Does the craft of journalism still act as a watchdog on democratic institutions, as a marketplace of ideas, as a common ground for different segments of society, and as a shaper of our civic values. We are living turbulent times of many changes in all aspects of print and broadcast mediums with busted budgets due to declining revenues, consolidation of the media corporations, changes in technology leading to previously unaffordable print, photographic, and video tools, and the resulting rise of “citizen journalists" who are eager to tell their stories-without corporate media obstacles- on the world wide web.