Maybe the solution is to go towards social journalism instead of the old school way. Less large corporations paying professional writers (mostly from well off backgrounds), more of a Uber type deal where the average Joe signs up through some sort of mobile app and they report the news from their own locations.

Perhaps the corporate, 'professional' model of media is simply not viable. Maybe Patreon might work with this, with the future 'journalists' not being corporate employees, but freelancers paid by their fans and the public to report the news.