Journalism Faces a New Landscape
Legacy journalism is dying out. New journalism is taking shape. What form will it take?
Reporting from Paris launched on April 7, 2026 to an enthusiastic welcome from readers around the world who wanted news from and about Paris – and a somewhat different world view. This continued support has kept us going psychologically ever since, and we’re all very grateful.
Now we find it’s time to ask you to consider pledging your financial support as well, to support the continued growth of our independent media model. Your pledge today will convert to a paid subscription in the autumn, when we plan to introduce a pay wall.
Let me explain why we’re taking this step.
As a veteran of more than 50 years of print and broadcast journalism, I confess to looking askance at the term “independent media.” It resonated as a description of someone with a computer, an internet connection, and an opinion who just bashes out anything at all and foists it on the universe. No newsroom, no editors, no standards …no good.
The years since COVID have proven me wrong.
COVID changed the way the world consumes news, information, and entertainment: confined to their homes at the beginning of the decade, audiences imported everything from food to movies to school lessons to news. The size of the screen determined what was watched: big screen TV was the format for the movies, sports, documentaries, and entertainment-type material that Netflix and their rivals produced or distributed. School work morphed to the computer, while smartphones became a lifeline for communications, news, and information. In bite-sized chunks. TV viewers were not watching news…in fact, they weren’t watching much of anything on what we now call “legacy media.”
Distribution was setting the agenda: there is more bang per spent buck in streaming than producing news the “old fashioned way” with crews and editors and journalists and producers. As a consequence, the news business has morphed into something less: less reliable, less well-financed, with fewer journalists. In particular in the US, in some notable cases, opinions, debates, and outright lies have replaced fact-based news reporting and divided the audience into warring camps. The cost to democratic governance has been exorbitant.
Journalists React
Many journalists who have been jettisoned from newsrooms have resurfaced with bespoke online news platforms. Worthy undertakings but solo performances can only go so far. And it’s not surprising that viewer-supporters are beginning to feel a bit over-subscribed. In the US, one look at TV news ratings indicates that today’s audience isn’t watching network TV news. Advertisers were among the first to notice… and moved their advertising spending elsewhere; massive layoffs have followed (misspellings on-screen are only the teeny tip of the iceberg).
The future for news and information, we strongly believe, is portable – online, pocket-sized, personalized. The change-over is already happening. But dismantling the present-day capital base and system of work while constructing another is a long and arduous process. The executives doing the dismantling may be no more certain of their jobs than those below them to whom they have given the axe.
The music isn’t in the violin: it’s in those
who know how to play it.
The cost of accommodating these changes in distribution is high but will be covered because there’s too much money at stake in what’s to come (think Paramount, Time Warner, Hachette Media et al…). The challenge is keeping the traditions and high standards of “legacy journalism” alive during this transition and in the new environment of the future. The music isn’t in the violin: it’s in those who know how to play it.
With Reporting from Paris, and the early support of a like-minded investor, we have taken that first step to keep journalists active and preserve a professional news structure that can transfer sound practices and principles to the next generation – something that doesn’t happen when everyone is working independently.
Presenting a New Model for Journalism
In short, we believe there is more to be gained for journalists, news consumers, and the future of real journalism by coming together to launch tailor-made online magazines – such as Reporting from Paris. With real news and real analysis by real journalists.
Most of us are members of the Anglo-American Press Association of Paris. Founded in 1907, it is the oldest foreign press association in France. Many of us have been here for several decades and have worked for a variety of English-language publications and broadcast outlets: Associated Press, CBS News, the Financial Times, NBC, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CNBC, PBS, ABC News, Dow Jones, and more.
We are reaching a global English-speaking audience (so far 61 countries) who have an affinity for and more than a passing knowledge of Paris. We’re not aiming at an audience focused on luxury but on passion: for insights and ideas, facts and fancies, profound thought, and light-hearted whimsy. (There is a bit of luxury thrown in, of course: this is the land of Versailles, after all, and luxury is big business in Paris.)
We spend 85 percent of our budget directly on journalists and journalism to ensure a high standard of editorial output each month.
So far, Reporting from Paris has been free. Now we find it’s time to introduce paid subscriptions to allow us to provide additional content – including some premium content, behind a paywall, offering subscribers the opportunity to interact with journalists, watch longer VIP video interviews, attend bespoke activities such as lectures or cooking classes…and perhaps live events in Paris itself.
This part is up to you: what would you like to see from us? And would you consider supporting us? There’s no immediate demand for money. You can pledge here to see your options. And please contact us directly should you have questions, need more information, or want to share some feedback.
Legacy media has been in dire straits ever since I came into the journalism world 30 years ago. Now, there’s so much doom-scrolling and journalism is, too often, not approachable. That’s a sad state of affairs. I’m hoping JournoDog can help on that, in some small way from this corner booth of the content world.