But the difference with online media, he says, is that know they can reach the beat reporter and their knowledge can flow through him/her as part of the production of news.

He says anyone who does not take advantage of that fact, and engage with the readership/audience as part of the reporting process, is losing out.

See Jay Rosen’s full interview with the Economist here.   The comment mentioned here comes in about 09:36.

A few key ideas:

• Twitter’s best features(hash tags, retweets) were initiated by the users, not by the company.
• We should not ask whether we can save newspapers(we can’t) — we should ask whether we can save journalism.
• The demise of newspapers is taking along with it what we have come to know as “accountability journalism” — the hard work of showing up at City Hall every day.
• Bookstores will basically go away once there is a widespread and truly interoperable e-reader standard.
• There is not yet a way of formally incorporating large groups to give them them the power to act long term– that’s why internet based “mass movements” tend to be intense and short-lived.
• Once a medium goes “vulgar” you will never see a small group controlling it again.

So, I’ve established this blog as a clearinghouse and categorizer.  It’s also a training vehicle to help me build up my blogging chops, which, as I launch in late 2009, still need a whole lot of work.

If the subject of new, better news interests you– bookmark me.