Online journalism

In 2009 audiences for online journalism continued to grow. In 2008, for the first time, more people reported getting their national and international news from the internet, rather than newspapers, and audiences to news sites continued to grow due to the launch of new sites, and it was continued growth in internet audiences overall, with new people discovering the internet’s advantages for convenience, speed and depth.
However, the professional online news industry is increasingly gloomy about its financial future.

Prior to 2008, the industry had hoped that publishing news online would prove lucrative enough to fund the costs of conventional newsgathering. In 2008, however, online advertising began to slow down, and little progress was made in 2009 towards development of new business models.
Many news organizations based in other media also distribute news online, but the amount they use of the new medium varies. Some news organizations use the Web exclusively or as a secondary outlet for their content.
Despite the uncertainty, online journalists are cautiously optimistic, reporting expanding newsrooms. They believe advertising is likely to be the best revenue model supporting the production of online news. Newspapers may lose classified advertising to websites. They are concerned about real and perceived loss of viewers and circulation to the Internet.
Photo by Galina Toktalieva