To: STATE EDITORS

Contact: Gil Klein of the National Press Club, +1-703-338-2721, gklein@press.org

ATLANTA, Oct. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The future of journalism may be in niche products supported less by advertising and more by corporate sponsorships, by interest groups and by public broadcasting-style memberships, leading Georgia journalists said at a National Press Club Centennial Forum here Tuesday.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080917/NPCLOGO )

While Cynthia Tucker, editorial page editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, described how her paper is pulling back its reporting to the core four counties in the metropolitan area, Susanna Capelouto, news director for Georgia Public Broadcasting, said her organization is expanding.

The reason public broadcasting is doing so well is that they can specialize on the why of journalism, Capelouto said. They make the connection, they tell the story, and they are supported by their members, so the pressure isnt there.

To keep up with the costs of doing public interest reporting, many news organizations will have to change their commercial model, Tucker said. A century ago, people could pick their newspapers according to their political beliefs or their demographics, and journalism may be returning to that model.

A large part of what is now commercial journalism will have to be supported by foundations or organized more along the lines of public broadcasting, Tucker said. I dont see any reason why newspapers cant adopt a corporate sponsorship model much like public broadcasting.

She said the News Hour on PBS has been supported by sponsorships for years. I dont see how their reporting of the news or their credibility has been hurt by that.

Capelouto and Tucker were speaking at one of the National Press Clubs forums on The First Amendment, Freedom of the Press and the Future of Journalism the Club is holding around the country to mark its 100th anniversary. At each forum, the Club gathers a panel of leading local journalists to talk about where the news business is going and how to protect its core values.

The Atlanta forum was co-sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club.

Tom Baxter, editor of the Internet-based Southern Political Report and senior vice president of its parent company, Insider Advantage, said the transition to new media is already well underway.

Baxter had been a political reporter and editor at the Atlanta Journal Constitution for 30 years before making the transition to the online news company. Now, he said, when he goes to presidential debates and the national political conventions, he sees the online news surging while the older media seem to be receding.

The next step is that (online media) might start making money, he said. None of us can predict which of these things are going to be profitable.

But even without the competition from the Internet, major metropolitan papers would have declining revenues, he said.

It would still be impossible, he said, for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to create a newspaper and throw it on the front lawn on one side of this metro area and throw it on the door step of the other side and still make any money.

Newspapers are in trouble not only because classified advertising has shifted to the Internet, but also because large news organizations took on huge debt to expand during the last 20 years, said Kent Middleton, head of the University of Georgias journalism department. They had counted on fat revenue growth to pay back that debt, and its not there.

The Internet will serve more niche audiences who will pay for that news, he said, but what will be lost is the investigative reporting that major metropolitan newspapers do.

The public will miss that the most, he said. The major metros were the only people in town that had the resources, the number of reporters, the financial strength, the institutional memory, the commitment of journalists and the publishers to do that work.

The next National Press Club Centennial Forum will be Thursday, Oct. 16, at New York University. It is co-sponsored by the Foreign Press Association and NYU.

Details and highlights of these forums can be found at the National Press Clubs Web site: www.press.org.

The NPC Centennial Forums program is sponsored by Aviva USA, one of the nations fastest-growing life insurers (www.AvivaUSA.com). In addition, the company is funding the production and distribution of 12,000 DVD copies of the Clubs centennial documentary, The National Press Club: A Century of Headlines and supplemental education materials.

Tom Godlasky, chief executive officer of Aviva North America, said, Our partnership with the National Press Club is based on shared values and a belief that the First Amendment, freedom of speech and professional journalism are fundamental to democracy, personal freedom and free enterprise.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB:

The National Press Club is the worlds leading professional organization for journalists. Founded in 1908, the Club has 3,500 members representing most major news organizations. Each year, the Club holds more than 2,000 events including news conferences, luncheons and panels, and more than 250,000 guests come through its doors.

SCHEDULE OF UPCOMING NATIONAL PRESS CLUB FORUMS

Oct. 16 New York, N.Y.

Oct. 21 Portland, Ore.

Oct. 22 Seattle, Wash.

Oct. 23 Spokane, Wash.

Oct. 27 Columbia, Mo.

Oct. 29 Des Moines, Iowa

Oct. 30 Milwaukee, Wis.

Nov. 6 Salt Lake City, Utah

Nov. 10 Washington D.C. Webcast to the University of Alaska (Anchorage and Fairbanks) University of Nebraska, University of Idaho, University of South Dakota, and University of Montana

Nov 12 Cleveland, Ohio

Nov. 13 Norman, Okla.

Nov. 13 Houston, Tex.

Nov. 17 Phoenix, Ariz.

Nov. 17 Minneapolis, Minn.

Nov. 18 San Diego, Ca.

Nov. 19 Los Angeles, Ca.

Nov. 19 Philadelphia, Pa.

Dec. 2 Indianapolis, Ind.

Dec. 3 Ann Arbor, Mich.

Dec. 8 Naples, Fla.

SOURCE National Press Club

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