Journalism Still Struggling With An Internet That Never Forgets

When an editor or news director selects a story as newsworthy and appropriate for publication at a particular place and time, should that story remain readily accessible at all times and in all places?

It's question that's only recently being asked, because, for most of the history of journalism, news accounts were published at a particular time and place, such as a daily newspaper or a nightly newscast, and they weren't generally available thereafter. Librarians, historians, archivists, clipping services and a few others might have them, but that was it.

Now, because of the Internet, many if not most news accounts are readily available not only at the time and place of publication, but also worldwide, for years and years to come. As one researcher has put it, news stories now have a long tail.