Contrary to news of downsizing in the newspaper industry and despite a struggling economy overall, spending more than 10 minutes in the Iowa State Daily newsroom is enough to cure the worst case of the sky is falling. Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication students, boasting hands-on experience at a top-rated college newspaper with state-of-the art connections to cyberspace at their fingertips, say they're optimistic about their careers.

"Of course, we listen to the news about all the veteran journalists around the country being fired, but we're not worried, because we're not traditional reporters," said Rashah McChesney, a senior in journalism and mass communication and the Daily's visual content manager.

McChesney said a large metro paper that recently dismissed some of its high-profile, seasoned staff hired three of her recently graduated, tech-savvy peers.

Although the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press reported earlier this year that about 85 percent of all dailies with more than 100,000 circulation, and about half of those with circulations under 100,000, eliminated or froze news positions during the first half of 2008, the journalism students' optimism isn't entirely misplaced, according to professor Jay Newell, who teaches mass media at ISU.

It's true that Internet media compete with their advertiser-supported print counterpart, but Newell said it's possible the reports of traditional media's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Newell co-authored a four-year study that found an increase in the overall consumption of advertiser-supported mass media, with rising use of new media outpacing declines of traditional media consumption during the period he studied.

It's that mix of traditional and new media that McChesney and her peers are counting on, she said.

Dave Kraemer, editor of The Tribune, said Newell's study fits his take on the state of the newspaper industry, especially in the niche served by small to midsize community newspapers such as The Tribune, which are "holding steady or even increasing readership," he said.

"Our core product is still the print version," Kraemer said. "Circulation is strong, and the community remains loyal. But the trend is obviously migrating to the Web, especially in younger readers."

Michael Bugeja, director of the Greenlee School of Journalism, said the issue at stake is trust in the news content. For news media to thrive, they must build audience trust as they ramp up the technology propelling their words and images onto new platforms.

The Pew survey showed credibility ratings for most major news organizations are either flat or have slipped since 2004, and Bugeja said he knows why.

"Under the lens of online news, the issue of trust is magnified by sheer numbers and differing expectations," he said.

The same Pew Survey reported that a decade ago, just one in 50 Americans got the news regularly from the Internet. Today, that number is one in three. But the emerging audience is unfamiliar with the rules for vetting facts in print journalism, Bugeja claimed.

"The newspaper industry bears the burden of proof when it comes to building trust in the new, online audience," said Bugeja, who was recently named as an editor and advisor to News-Trust, a nonprofit news network that evaluates news and opinion against core principles of journalism, such as fairness, accuracy, context and sourcing.

It's a burden some regional outlets are willing to bear. Joe Buttweiler is editor of the Mason City Globe Gazette, a paper with a circulation of nearly 20,000 in a community about the size Ames would be without the Iowa State University student population. Buttweiler said his organization is pursuing "aggressive" online journalism.

"We're intentionally building trust for online news," he said. "It's our job to tell great stories. Done well, online media gives us new ways to do that."

Steve Buttry, editor of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, said his paper is "fearlessly" embracing online media in spite of the fact the industry hasn't figured out how to execute the right business model for the shrinking print-to-advertising ratio.

Michael Gartner, former editor and owner of The Tribune, said newspapers have survived their death knell before.

"I've seen at least six trends come and go that were predicted to be the death of newspapers," Gartner said. "Nothing has killed them, yet. Once it was inkpots, next it was typewriters, and now it's digital technology. I think newspapers that blend print with Web content will do even better. I'm not worried about the future of newspapers."

"Newspapers are still where you find the best journalism in America," Kraemer said. "If, ultimately, the newspaper model turns out to be economically viable, journalism will survive. And that's what we're working on right now."
      
According to Gartner, up-and-coming journalists hold sway in assuring newspapers thrive.

"It's up to new journalists to master the basics along with the new technology that come along," he said.