The future of reporting...

The Chicago-based Tribune Co.'s bankruptcy this week hit me on a lot of levels -- not the least of which was that I am a former employee of that company.

But beyond me, the discussion in recent days turned to the future of journalism - particularly print media. And that discussion should be a wake-up call for any consumer of news and the Internet. Here's a link to KPCC host Pat Morrison's show on the subject: http://www.scpr.org/programs/pattmorrison/

The gist of it was this: if newspapers completely fail, and reporters go with them, the Internet will not be far behind.

As it stands, professional reporters are paid to dig up information and present it to readers in the form of original content.

If there is no business model that can compensate them to do this, the Internet sites that rely on newspaper stories for content won't have anything to report -- and that's a lot of them.

Yes, wire services will help. But what about consistent local news?

Forgive me for perhaps tooting the horn of my profession. I'm not seeking an industry bailout -- not yet anyway. And don't get me wrong. Citizen journalists have their place. 

But this seemed a very relevant discussion for anyone who likes to read the news, and who cares about having paid, fulltime journalists trying to get information to readers.