One doesn’t have to look far to see how the landscape of journalism is changing. From the rocket-streaked night skies of Palestine to the local pub on election night, new journalists are emerging with even newer reporting techniques. And in a recent essay that comes from Columbia University’s Tow School for Digital Journalism, these changes are just the beginning.

“This essay is part survey and part manifesto, one that concerns itself with the practice of journalism and the practices of journalists in the United States. It is not, however, about ‘the future of the news industry,’ both because much of that future is already here and because there is no such thing as the news industry anymore,” the introduction boldly states.

Jeff Sonderman at the Poynter Institute offers an insightful précis for those of us without the time to read an entire manifesto, pointing out that the role of the journalist has shifted: instead of being the hand that delivers the facts, journalists will soon take on more of an editorial role. In short, they will act as a go-between for the information and reader, or “an investigator, a translator, a storyteller.”

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