By Evelyn Ostrovsky 

Every fall, the CEC research team spends nearly every waking minute on one activity: talking with the membership about their biggest concerns for the coming year. In my dozens (and dozens!) of conversations with members across over the last few months, one theme has come up repeatedly: the effect of new media on traditional media.

The week between Christmas and New Years brings much needed quiet to the office, and this year, Rebecca and I decided to explore a less traditional research method—one that actually got us out of our cubes for a change. On Rick’s recommendation, we made out way to D.C.’s own Newseum to learn about the history and changing role of journalism first-hand.

So what did we learn on our adventure? Well, aside from the names of every First Dog and what Tim Russert’s office looked like, we explored the Digital News Gallery to learn about the evolution of technology in news channels. We also visited the graveyard of “final editions”—newspapers that have gone out of print or moved to web-only. As our Newseum experience made clear, the fast-evolving nature of news formats and providers will force communicators to embrace new ways of reaching their audiences in 2010.

Check out this article from the Newseum and accompanying video for a rundown of the Digital News Gallery. (On a side note, I particularly like the listed “causes of death” for newspapers. Primary cause of death: the Internet. Secondary causes: poor circulation and dwindling advertising.)

CEC members, keep up with our research on Winning Audiences in the Post-Media Environment on our website.