#mediafuture

On July 18, 2025, Congress approved a rescission bill rescinding $9 billion in previously authorized federal spending—$1.1 billion directed at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (NPR/PBS), with the remaining funds affecting foreign aidIn the House, the vote was razor-thin: 216–213; the Senate passed it 51–48President Trump took to Truth Social, celebrating the move as a culmination of a…

In a recent article from journalism.co.uk, writer Catalina Albeanu explains that there are four possible outcomes for the future of journalism by 2025: wisdom of the crowd, a handful of apples, the Shire and Darwin’s game. Wisdom of the crowd is simply everyday people will make news stories on their own, they wouldn’t have gone to school for journalism. The handful of apples is highly personalized news that individuals can get when they want it. The Shire is simply that everything becomes localized and there is a distrust in public institutions. Finally Darwin’s game is when people allow big companies to pave the way because they are not adapting all of the emerging technology.

All of these predictions follow trends that we have seen in the past, but I think some are more likely than others. In my trendspotting class at Newhouse, we discuss how trends bridge the past and the future, and by spotting them, that’s how we can predict things that will happen way down the road and not in the immediate future. Although people have the technology to do their own journalism, I do not believe this will ever be the case because journalists a lot of training that helps them tell stories properly. I highly doubt this will ever become common knowledge or we would all be out of jobs. I do, however, believe that there is a good chance we will get better quality viewer footage of events as the technology progresses. Darwin’s game is the other prediction that I do not agree with. People have been slow at adopting technology, but technology is so much a part of our lives anymore that it is probably more likely people would be willing to get it. 

I do, however, agree with the handful of apples and the Shire. Local news is big anymore. Not that national stories are not important, but viewers are a bit more disconnected with them because they aren’t happening near them. Localization is a huge topic that they teach us at Newhouse. We get quizzed a lot on things that are happening locally because those are the kinds of stories non-network journalists tell. Also, the Shire is already happening. Many news organizations are adopting ways to stream broadcasts live or to have them saved if you missed them, and you can catch up at your leisure. Also,  push notifications allow for the general public to know what’s happening with the news that they already care about.