Where will the great investigative journalism of our century happen?
According to Wired magazine, it will all happen on small, online publications like Sharesleuth.com, not the powerful media organizations.
I'm not bashing The Big Bad Mainstream Media when I say that, I'm just thinking about logistics. Newspaper budgets around the country are tanking, and in the end, mostly nimble, community-centered companies will survive the shake-up.
While the Wired article addresses some ethical problems with the market-investigating site, Sharesleuth.com, it does make this point that all fledgling writers must consider as they plan for the future. Dig it:
"Circulation at US newspapers fell 13 percent between 1990 and 2005. Between 2000 and 2005, the number of full-time newspaper reporting and editing jobs shrunk by some 3,000. Newsroom budgets have been slashed. The result, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, is "shrinking ambitions" in the country's newsrooms."