NPR: iPads & Huffpo

News isn't created by news companies or newspapers, it’s true. Bloggers, especially professional bloggers with journalistic chops, have the capacity to cover more subjects, and are able to take over niches in which they are covering a subject that is an area of expertise to them. This leads, in my opinion, to better journalism. I'm not the only one who thinks Arianna Huffington may be on to something: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dal-lamagna/hail-mary-or-hail-arianna_b_820239.html

One of my Pulitzer-prize winning professors was a foreign correspondent for the New York Times. He said that he slowly became an expert in a dozen specific global issues, and learned everything he could about those issues. He said he had to do this because he needed some expertise in order to do his job well, but there simply wasn't enough time for him to become an expert on everything. In the NPR broadcast, it is stated that with online journalism, it is possible to "hear more voices in more ways". AOL's acquisition of the Huffington Post is not quite journalism being bought out by corporation. Arianna Huffington has said that she recognizes the importance of journalists to the extent that she hires them to be her bloggers, which is good news for journalism students worldwide.

Getting news through the iPad is another hot idea in the news media world at the moment. It remains to be seen whether or not large masses of people will be willing to pay for such a service. I could definitely see a market for niche publications on electronics like smart-phones and iPads as time progresses. I think it would be wise for the New York Times and the Washington Post to begin throwing around ideas about how to make money through smart phone and iPad readership. These companies should be investigating whether paying for the service, or getting money through advertisers is the smartest way to go about advancing the field of journalism as a whole.