It’s almost conventional wisdom right now that the news media is in a fast-moving crisis, with mainstream news sources collapsing and Americans increasingly divided not only in what they read, but even what facts they choose to believe. How much worse will it get? Or is there a way out?
The changes in the media industry make it nearly impossible to guess. When POLITICO was born 15 years ago, a digital-first politics site was considered downright disruptive in Washington, D.C. Today, that sounds almost quaint compared to what was on the way: Facebook was a baby, and Instagram was just a twinkle in a code developer’s eye. “Pandemic” meant the Spanish Flu of 1918 — and “Zoom” was a kids’ show from the ’70s. Information now flows in ways nobody was even considering in 2007, and over the next decade and a half, media is poised to change even more dramatically.
How? We at POLITICO Magazine decided to take advantage of our milestone — our 15th birthday — to press some experts and media thinkers on what media will look like in the next 15 years. What will be the biggest transformations — and how will they affect our public life? Are you optimistic? If so, how do we get to the good part? If you’re concerned, what can we do to avoid the worst outcomes?
