Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger told this afternoon's Changing Media Summit that it is "impossible to predict on what technology platform journalism will be delivered in five years' time or even a year."
But he predicted that more and more of that content will be provided by the readers themselves – as opposed to journalists.
He said: "We are grappling with this balance of what goes on to the website and what goes in the paper. A great part of that web[content] will be generated by users in time."
But he added: "The role of journalists in this multi-media age has not changed and that user-generated content will only be a compliment to their work.
"There is still a role for people to find things out. But to have people sat in a newsroom in Wapping or Farringdon Road thinking they know everything is barmy.
"The smart journalists are working out ways of using that [user generated content]."
Rusbridger also took a side swipe at media dynasties such as those of Rupert Murdoch and the Barclay Brothers, saying: "Apart from the House of Lords, there is no other area which is hereditary in this country."
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