“The Future of the News Business,” a three-man panel of journalists at Boulder Startup Week, begins with a literal thud.

One panelist, Boulder Daily Camera editor Matt Sebastian, tumbles out of his faulty chair, causing the 20-30 onlookers to halfway leave their seats to help. The other two panelists, Steve Outing, an adjunct professor at University of Colorado Boulder and “media futurist,” along with Ben Markus, a general assignment reporter for Colorado Public Radio, help him up. After the dust settles, the moderator begins: “What is the state of the news business?”

The answers also came out with a thud — a figurative one.

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