BBC: How do you read your news?

A news blog- it says here that the fossil of a two- headed dinosaur has been discovered in Greece. Look! Look at this picture!

Honestly, Neil, you shouldn't believe everything you read on the internet! This story is from one of those fake news websites that float about on socila media. And you aren't the city one to get taken in- even serious news channels report these types of stories as if they were true. 

Taken in means fooled by something. Well, I must admit, I did believe it. And I didn't know that fake- or pretend- news sities existed. How am I supposed to know what's fake and what's real? So many extraordinary things happen!

That's a good question, and actually, digital news and its effect on traditional newspapers in the subject of today's show. The thing is, if you read a traditional print newspaper like I do, you'd find stories that are more reliable- ones you can trust. 

Well, enjoy your traditional print newspaper while you can, Sophie, because they're going to disappear pretty soon- the same way as the dinosaurs!

Hmm. It is true that print newspapers are feeling pinch these days- and that means not making enough money. But I will miss them if they go. Which brings me on to today's quiz question. Neil, how many national print newspapers are currently sold in the UK a day? Is it...

a) 70,000    b)  700,000   or   c) 7 million?

Well, I'll go for a)70,000. It can't be much more than that, surely.

Well, we'll find out whether you got the answer right or not later in the show. But moving on now, we've discussed one disadvantage of digital news- that it can be hard to distinguish a real story from a fake one- given the mass of information available on the web. So maybe you should tell us about the advantages, Neil. 

Well, you can access news 24/7- and search for it on your phone or tablet wihtout having to flip through pages of stuff you aren't interested in. It isn't all in black and white, it isn't all about reading- you can watch and listen too. And make comments of your own. 

OK, well, let's listen to Tim Luckhurst, Professor of Journalism at Kent University, to see what the thinks is important in journalism nowadays. 

It doesn't matter whether your local journalist produces news on a tablet, on a mobile phoen, in print, online, on television, or on radio. What matters is that there should be a diversity of journalism avaiable and that it should be provided by professional reporters whose job i sto do an honest objective job, impartially, in the publlic interest, not simply to rant or express opinions. 

Tim Luckhurst there. He says that news will be successful on any platform- digital or traditional- so long as reporters are honest and objective in their pursuit of a good story. If you're objective it means you aren't influenced by personal feelings or opinions. If you rant you speak in an angry opinionated way about something. 

Now, newpapers need to make money in order to pay their jouralists. And with circulation falling dramatically, they need to find other ways to make newspapers pay. 

A newspaper's circulation is the number of copies it distributes per day. Well, selling more advertising space is one way, isn't it?

Yes, but many advertisers are choosing to use digital platforms becaue they reach a wider and more targeted audience. And this is one reason why digital news is taking over- it can pay for itself through advertising. 

I wouldn't mind paying paying more for a newspaper if I knew the quality of journalism is good. 

But incresingly people are expecting good quality journalism for free.