Paul Bradshaw, the British academic on digital media, posts his article for the International Press Institute's report on the future of journalism. In it, he argues there will be a greater need for numerate, computer-clever reporters who know how to use freedom of information laws, databases and other forms of precision work.

Coming to grips with data is not easy in a craft that largely deals with anecdotal storytelling forms and frameworks, but Bradshaw believes data will be the new heart of journalism.

"The more networked and iterative form of journalism that we’ve already seen emerge online is likely to become even more conventional as publishers move from a model that sees the story as the unit of production, to a model that starts with data," Bradshaw writes.

It will be necessary to emphasize designers, programmers and researchers in this new environment.  "The mass market was a hack," he suggests.

The U.S. Conference Board has a new survey finding that one-quarter of Americans watch programs online, up from 20 per cent a year ago.

Of those viewers, 43 per cent watched news, while 35 per cent watched entertainment programs. Twenty per cent watched reality shows and 18 per cent watched sports.

To reflect this growing trend, the Nielsen company has indicated it is developing a TV/Web measurement metric. Assessing data reliably will be of particular importance to programmers as they contend with dispersed advertising dollars.