American journalists reflected on the trouble the newspaper industry faces in its struggle to survive and also discussed the inherent risks of foreign investigative reporting in times of war during a panel called “Troubled Times” yesterday.

Joseph Steinfield, a trial lawyer and member of the Judiciary-Media Committee of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, spoke about the dangers of being a journalist in hazardous regions, citing the recent assassination of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya because of her coverage of the war in Chechnya, Russia.

Steinfield introduced the media panel of four professionals who discussed the threat the “blogosphere” poses to the survival of newspapers.

Christopher Lydon, former reporter for The Boston Globe and The New York Times, opened the media panel discussion by saying “the Internet is changing everything.”

He said there are more than 50 million bloggers speaking their minds about everything from “what they had for breakfast to their remedies for inflation.”

Although this phenomenon may be shifting some journalistic authority from the professional media to citizens, Lydon said the overall change is positive. Through blogs, he said people can voice their opinions, ignore conformity and “post [what] you’re thinking.”

“Life, these days, is on the Internet,” Lydon said about blogging. “Reality is authentic voices not speaking for anyone but themselves.”

Renee Ferguson, national and international investigative reporter for NBC5-Chicago also voiced her support for “citizen journalism.”

Ferguson said she plans to propose training ideas to the Board of Investigative Reporters and Editors in the hope that opinionated bloggers can become “true citizen journalists” if professionals can provide training on analyzing data.

“If we have thousands of people analyzing the government and being part of the ‘watchdog’ process, that is an exciting process,” Ferguson said. “I do not feel threatened at all.”

Kevin Convey, managing editor of the Boston Herald, said newspapers are also suffering from the loss of advertising revenue.

“The foundation for advertising support for newspapers isn’t just eroding; it’s collapsing,” Convey said.

Since 1970, advertising revenue has decreased by 10 percent, causing newspapers to lose millions, Convey said. As revenue shrinks, the resources to gather news, sustain a news staff and travel are affected, he explained.

“We are working hard everyday to come up with a compelling product that will find its way into the hearts of more Bostonians, be a self-supporting operation while also making a transition onto the web,” Convey said.

Nicholas Daniloff, director of journalism programs at Northeastern University, spoke about journalists’ role in foreign affairs. One of Daniloff’s former graduate students was recently killed in Afghanistan.

Like the other panelists, Daniloff also acknowledged the decline in traditional news networks and rise of the internet media. Praising technological advances, he encouraged people to take advantage of the huge amount of easily accessible information from foreign nations via the Internet.

While blog culture is on the rise, the panel reinforced the necessity for professional journalists.

Ellen Hume, director of the Center of Media and Society, added that, even in website form, it will be “total chaos if you withdrawal the core that is professional journalism.”