The media is a field that carries significant clout and influence on the world around us. The media shines a light on the things that impact people’s lives, but the media also impacts people’s lives. The content churned out daily by media organizations across the nation impacts how people view the world, which makes understanding the media all the more important.

Underneath their fancy journalistic mission statements and rigorous ethical standards, there are economic and cultural issues that morph the way journalists and the media do their work. The question is, is that a good thing? There are existential questions surrounding the news media’s future; we try to answer or at the very least think about it.

How do you sustain your operations when the revenue reaped from online advertising does not compare to what print advertising once was? How do you still do hard hitting news when what people want is soft feel good pieces? How do you—the reader—use this information to be a better news consumer?

Written by Assistant News Editor Lars Lonnroth, Media Mayhem aims to answer these questions and so much more in this bi-weekly look at the media ecosystem. Stay tuned, see what’s in store, and let us parse the important information that impacts the media and, in turn, impacts you.