Recently, I attended a Press Club screening of Manny Mendoza and Mark Birnbaum's documentary about the decline of newspapers, "Stop the Presses." A few pertinent facts: Since 1980, 300 newspapers have closed, and since 2001,14,000 journalists have lost their jobs. By 2040, the film predicts the last newspaper will have been printed. Most of us have been pitching the important daily newspapers since we started in the public relations. Getting a hit in the premier papers is a big deal and a great feeling of accomplishment. I never take it for granted The New York Times wants to cover my story. I’m proud I have a connection, gave a solid pitch, and was considered, which is always a challenge.

The sad reasons for the decline of newspapers is what you would expect: 24-hour cable news and the Internet have siphoned off audiences and, more importantly, advertising, the lifeblood of every newspaper. With sites like Craigslist, eBay, cars.com, Overstock, and Monster, who needs to write an old-fashioned classified ad when you can get exactly what you need in less time online?

For me, the takeaway from the film was what happens to investigative journalism and non-biased reporting if and when newspapers close. I enjoy reading many of the “news-like” Internet sites, but I never mistake them for actual journalism. The story of “balloon boy” several weeks ago is a perfect example of news breaking on the Web, but no facts or details were actually checked, and no one was surprised when it turned out to be a hoax. The Watergate scandal or Iran Contra would not or could not have been broken online.

As our culture dives deeper and deeper into the digital news age, it’s going to be interesting to see how and when our jobs change. Will newspapers exist solely on the Web rather than on paper thrown on our doorstep every morning? What will happen to the meaty stories that require time and investigation, some Woodward and Berstein sleuthing? Will our hard political news be broken by The Drudge Report? 

I don’t have any answers after watching “Stop the Press,” and it’s apparent that the former managing editors of our dying newspapers don’t have any answers either. We know the world of news and information is rapidly changing, but unless you have a crystal ball, no one knows what “news” will look like in five years, much less in a couple of decades. I do know we’ll have to adapt and change with the flow of information if we’re to remain relevant to the process.