20.01.2010
By Ross Waters
GUARDIAN editor Alan Rusbridger refused to comment on which political party his paper will support in the upcoming general elections in a recent video conversation at Coventry University.
Rusbridger, entering his 15th year as editor of the paper, has said that the Guardian will “wait and see what the campaign throws up”, refusing to follow suit of newspapers such as The Sun in declaring their support for a certain party.
In the video conference, Rusbridger discussed the current status of the journalism profession to a lecture hall of media students, in which he described the industry as a “period of great insecurity”, but also a “fantastically interesting time”.
He also commented on the future of the newspaper as well as the technological advances of news, saying that digital is “cannibalising” print. However, The Guardian as a digital format is succeeding well, with the iPhone application having around 70,000 downloads since its launch on the 14th December, and a £2.39 per download, is having plenty of potential compared to The Independents free app, which has been downloaded around 60,000 times.
Alan also gave any future journalists advice and to what he looks for in hiring staff for his paper, with such things as “correct ethics, curiosity and to be able to communicate” and to “tell accurately”. He also stressed the future need for journalists to be able to master all forms of digital media from”blog, link, flash and data” to gain an advantage on the previous generation of writers.
