Nearly 80 percent of the world’s editors and senior newsroom managers view online journalism as a ”welcome addition”, according to the 2006 Newsroom Barometre released at the World Newspaper Congress.
Of the editors surveyed, the poll found that 74 percent of them believed online would have a positive impact on the quality of journalism.
Asked how the editors would invest in editorial quality in the newsroom, 37 percent chose training their staff in new media as a primary investment while 23 percent cited more staff recruitments as a priority.
Pressure from advertisers was viewed as a principal threat to quality journalism with more than 20 percent of editors pointing the finger at shareholders.
Commenting on the future of newspapers in the next 10 years, the majority of the editors (58 percent) predicted digital news will become more popular than print while 35 percent say newspapers will always remain king.
Forty percent said online would be the most popular digital platform to deliver news in the next 10 years, while 11 percent said it would be mobile telephones.
The study was conducted between November and December last year among 435 editors, most of them from western Europe.
The World Newspaper Congress opened in Cape Town on Monday and ends on Wednesday.