The Grim Reaper comes to the Media

How many people expect Katie Couric to have her CBS job in the next ten years? In the next ten years will the New York Times in any written or online mode be here? Will the Washington Post, Newsweek, Time, and other such publications be here in ten years? Will all the printed and television pundits still be getting paid for their opinions in ten years? For those who can retire first, just how secure is their retirement from the Washington Post when it goes under, for example?

Will such media chains as the Associated Press or Reuters, or even publicly supported organizations like BBC and NPR exist in their present form and editorial control in ten years?

In the last ten years, how many people have abandoned the aforementioned publications and chains because they are now editorials for their causes vice the “just the news” types they used to be, or pretended to be? Have the people changed, or has the Media changed? If it is some of both, who has changed more?

The professionalizing of past political campaigns included using media masters, or spin masters. How one said things, and when they said things, could influence the votes of citizens. How many people think this will still work in ten years? How many people think ideas may count more than spinning ideas in the next ten years? Will media spinning be part of governing in ten years? Will winning a war exist only if won in the media?

How many people think the present 24/7 news cycles brought about by the cable news television industry will still be here in ten years? Will 30 and 60 second sound bites and video clips and producer drop dead times still be the news standard compiled by industry networks? For that matter, what happens in ten years when all of the world’s population has access to the media and news than the maybe 1/3 of the population has today?

Things can change quicker than we might imagine. In 1900 one big topic was what to do with all the manure in big cities left by the animals used for transportation. In the next ten years a massive die off of the baby boom generation left by World War II will also bring about surprising changes.