Outsourcing in Journalism
All news is local, right, so how can it be outsourced to India? Outsourcing has impacted several people I know in the tech industry. One friend lost several jobs when the company he used to work for shifted various tasks overseas. Another person now manages some men in India instead of men sharing his office in the US. Now, it might be coming to a news outlet near you.
During Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me, I heard a bit about a Pasadena newspaper trying to outsource certain local government coverage to a reporter in India as a money saving measure. The attitude of the decision makers is that since supporting material for the meetings is available online, anyone anywhere can cover the meetings. They don’t have to send a reporter to be there in person. Here’s a bit more about that from National Public Radio’s Morning Edition and the Associated Press.
How much of a city council meeting does not make it into the minutes or online video?
I wonder what my friend who used to spend all of her evenings at various city government meetings thinks about a change like this one.
