In the past, journalists have been rather slow to embrace change. But as readership declines and traditional print news is forced to compete with the blogosphere, budding journalists would do well to embrace two things in the times ahead; technology and transparency.

Stop using paper! Schedules, calendars, contact lists, and more can be done far more efficiently using technology. Programs such as Outlook, or Excel can perform these functions far better and spare the lives of many trees at the same time. Excel's spreadsheet functions can keep information fielded and organized; as the book puts it, fielded data is a beautiful thing.

Databases are used by all of the top news sites. They can provide additional depth that wouldn't be possible in traditional print media. Databases add customization, searchability, and lend a long shelf-life to your information. Many newsrooms have set up online databases for their contacts so that all of their reporters can pool into them; adding contacts and using others' sources as well. These databases can even be used for actual story information, making it easier for other reporters to write an alternate story from the same data pool. Sharing information is the biggest advantage offered by this digital age.

Another budding concept is crowdsourcing, a term coined by Jeffe Howe. This concept is the backbone of websites like Wikipedia, where the information is constantly updated by a dedicated (yet unpaid) online community. Crowdsourcing harnesses the power of a community on a continuing basis to improve a service or information base. This lends itself to distributive, collaborative, or open-source reporting; in which readers are informed about a story while it is still being developed, so that they may assist in the reporting process.

Very few news organizations are adding to their staffing levels these days. However, this doesn't mean journalism is any less important than it used to be. It means that journalists must find new tools and efficiencies to continue their work and possibly even take it to a higher level.