The Boston Globe's next chapter

We hear so much these days about conventional newspapers losing marketshare to new and social media that one might expect the journalists at the former are simply sitting back and accepting their inevitable fate. So it is refreshing to encounter a conventional newspaper journalist who is energetic and enthusiastic about the role her profession and employer will continue to play in giving readers news worth reading.

The reporter to whom I refer is Boston Globe Business Editor Shirley Leung. At a Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) event in Boston last night, Leung met with a room filled with Boston area PR professionals representing healthcare, technology, financial services and other Boston-area businesses. If the Boston Globe should wave the white flag, accept its demise, and hand news-reporting responsibility over to new and social media, nobody seems to have informed Leung. She articulately and energetically charmed her listeners as she described the way she believes the imminent changes to the paper and her section will better serve readers.

There’s no question new and social media offers exciting opportunities for readers to get their news in new and different ways. But Leung's obvious professionalism and commitment to journalistic excellence serve as a reminder that traditional media too will have its place in The New News Order. It seems clear that the days of conventional newspapers as choke holders on the news are behind us. But in my opinion papers like the Globe will continue to play an important, if different and less monopolistic, role in providing readers with the news they need. As a Boston area PR professional rooting for the Globe, it gives me confidence to know Leung is at the helm of the business section.