Local Journalists Focus On Business Model At Media Forum

The four local journalists gathered at the Oconee County campus of the University of North Georgia agreed that this is a period of dramatic change and adaptation in the media industries they represent.

Blake Aued from flagpole, Michael Prochaska from The Oconee Enterprise, and Lee Shearer from the Athens Banner-Herald said the business model for journalism is broken.

All three of these print journalists lamented the negative impact these changes have had on the coverage of local news.

Tim Bryant, news director for Cox Media Group Athens and host of Classic City Today on 98.7 FM and AM 1340 WGAU, was much more sanguine in his assessment of the media landscape.

“The journalism model I would say is changing, not broken,” Bryant said. “Somebody’s making money. It’s always going to evolve. It’s evolving in a very rapid way now.”

For more on the story, with a video of the session with the four journalists, please go to Oconee County Observations.