This panel looked at the changing role of the reader and the journalist in the electronic environment. Is "journalist" an overly dignified term for the writing we see on the Internet? New time pressures and chances to update make the process of generating "news" more fluid, and possibly more error-prone as well. How do on-line versions of newspapers and other information and entertainment sources change what reporters are supposed to do and how readers interact with the newspaper? With easier opportunities to talk back to newspapers and other sources, are readers more empowered? Finally, will the editor become extinct in the future, or will readers need the gatekeeping they provide? The panel offers some observations on whether news and some of the network-based information institutions really care about Fourth Estate obligations, or whether their quest for audiences numbers and an efficient news cycle overrules integrity and accountability. Todd Lappin, Wired Magazine Peter Lewis, New York Times Elizabeth Weise, USA Today cfp conference Main Menu