We still need professionals. Duh.

A friend kept asking me this question, and I kept not understanding it: How could the Twitter/networked media world have managed to get a reporter down to Atlanta, down to the airport, in time to ambush Gov. Mark Sanford on his arrival from Argentina?

Eventually, though, I got it: Since I'm an advocate of networked media and a critic of mass media, wouldn't I concede that there are times when a professional press has advantages? It was, to me, a good-natured form of the question, "Aren't you wrong?"

Well, I'm often wrong, but to the extent that people have projected such thoughts on me, it's time for a clarification. Professionals are important. We need them. If we're going to have them, then we must pay them a living wage.

Here's the flip side of that: To be a professional, one must work in a profession, and a profession is defined by its agreed-upon standards. To be a professional, one must deliver work that is demonstrably better than what one would expect from an amateur. To be a professional is not merely to have resources, but to be worthy of them.

The profession of journalism is in flux, and that's at least as significant as the transition from the old business model to whatever comes next. "The Audience" is now "the people formerly known as the audience," and we're all accountable for incorporating the new communications tools into our thinking. So when I bang on "the pros" for prat-falling in the face of all this change, that's not because I oppose the idea of a professional press.

I'm advocating for one.

Comments

[xarkGirl]

Thanks for articulating this. There seems to be a widespread notion that the argument is traditional media vs. the wild, wild west and that those advocating for a dissolution of the old system place no value on expertise.

This concept was explored at the inaugural Social Media Club meeting in Charleston June 23. People absolutely see the need for professionals to sort through immense amounts of data for context, analysis and relevance. This is even more crucial in the information age, when credibility is currency.

Professionals, however, ADD value. They don't just market and monetize.