This event was organized by the NeFCA divisions Journalism and Media Industries & Policies. 

Location:
Ghent University, Department of Communication Sciences
Academieraadzaal
Voldersstraat 9
9000 Ghent, Belgium

Date:
Friday 20 November 2015 from 9 a.m. till 12.30 p.m.

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Mark Deuze is Professor of Media Studies (University of Amsterdam). He talked about his current book project (together with Dr. Tamara Witschge of the University of Groningen) titled “Beyond Journalism” (contracted with Polity Press), featuring a range of richly detailed case studies of digital news startups around the world – including initiatives in The Netherlands, France, Italy, South Africa, Iran, Colombia, and the United States. The following questions were discussed: What is journalism in the context of the rapid transformation of the profession? How do public and private motivations drive a renewed conceptualization of journalism and a professional identity of journalists? And the consequences of these developments were explored for journalism studies, education and practice.

René van Zanten (Algemeen Directeur Stimuleringsfonds voor de Journalistiek) discussed four different plausible scenarios for the future of Dutch journalism in 2025. These scenarios have been developed by Stimuleringsfonds voor de Journalistiek in interaction with the journalistic sector. The starting point for the development of the scenarios are two critical uncertainties, namely technology and social trust. Van Zanten indicated how these uncertainties affect the relationship between professional and citizen journalists, the future of Dutch media groups, the role of internet and algorithms in the production and dissemination of news and the willingness to pay for quality journalism.