Knight Foundation’s Eric Newton was recently quoted in the American Journalism Review on the future of news councils in the U.S.

At a news council, people who feel wronged by the media can file a complaint, get a public hearing and have the decision published. However, just’one council continues to operate on that classic model as people find new ways to air complaints on the Internet.

Said Newton:

“The question is not whether people are interacting with media, but how. We still need to keep thinking of good ways to keep quality news and information about journalism on the table when complaints are discussed, but it looks like we need digital, real time ways to do it,” he says. Newton points to research that indicates “media is becoming more personal, portable and participatory.”‘He adds, “It’s logical to think that any person, group, tool or institution hoping to do what news councils once hoped to do would need to employ digital tools in that same way.”