I've often opined on the state of what I call the "old media" (i.e. print media). And, to be both fair and honest, many in print media have been taking a long hard look at their industry as well. It's hard not to do, given the fact that print media sales and readership have been steadily declining for some years now.
Michael Getler, the Washington Post's ombudsman, recently caught my eye with something he wrote regarding the state of his medium:
The Web and the explosion of personal blogs, or Web logs and journals, have tapped into and greatly expanded that public reservoir of knowledge and understanding in important ways by challenging the accuracy of reporting and adding analysis.
On the other hand, nothing out there is going to supply you with the extraordinary daily content of the Post, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal or other fine newspapers.
I'm having some trouble with this statement. Yes, these papers do provide a huge variety of content, and they have some great writers, but they are also slanted, slow as compared with other media formats, and rigid in their internal hierarchies.
If they weren't all those things, they would already have recognized and taken advantage of the fact that the advent of the Internet and the appearance of blogs was the single greatest boon to their industry EVER! Here is how "old media" could become new again:
KEY POINTS TO CONSIDER
- A couple of key points regarding the advent of a "Renewed Media" are that many journalists helped originally empower the Blogosphere and turn a passive readership into an active participant and, in many cases, voracious consumers of theirs and other media services. Until this time, talk radio had a clear advantage over print media because they could more quickly and easily respond to media events and even engage with their listeners by taking phone calls. The Renewed Media (RM) could do better by far.
- Print media should consider that perhaps overall circulation now matters less than overall influence (though, traditionally, the one more easily leads to the other). The fact is, an individual Blog can have very low circulation as compared to the MSM, but can be, at the same time, highly influential. How can that be? Because a Blog can extend its influence through the network of Blogs we call the Blogosphere. Other bloggers rebroadcast content in such a way as to magnify the influence of any one blogger immensely (for example, when a blogger "swarm" occurs.)
- This is why the Blogosphere is really a type of Open Source Media, as I've said in the past. The Open Source Media, is composed of enormous numbers of independent contributors who are, at times, able to act in concert, and they have been an enourmous challenge to print media. But this Open Source Media also offers an enormous opportunity.
Article comments
1 - Temple Stark
>> given the fact that print media sales and readership have been steadily declining for some years now.
Everytime someone brings this up, i'm going to bring up the fact that newspapers and cable and network news Web sites account for about the top 18 of 20 most visited Web sites. it's just that money from Web sales is waaaaaaaaay lower. Next time I mention this rather glaring ommission I'll have the exact number.
2 - Temple Stark
and i didn't read your front page blurb until just now
>>Do print media moguls realize that the Internet/ Blogosphere could herald a new golden age for their industry?
See my answer above.
3 - mike hollihan
It's late and I don't have links. Sorry....
Korea's hottest newsite, Oh My Korea, is a new model for "journalism." Hundreds of correspondents, from journalists to housewives to students to businessmen to scientists, send in articles and stories every day.
Greenboro, North Carolina, has a newspaper re-inventing itself as a blog-driven website. Jay Rosen's Press Think has the link. He's been all over this development.
When phones with cams or video, and widespread broadband, are common you'll see a lot of city-oriented websites built around uploads from folks on the spot sending in video and pics. That's when newspapers will become what newsmagazines were ten years ago: sources of deeper reporting and analysis.
4 - Dave Nalle
One thing I expect to see more of is a fusion of video news and print news through the web, with video links for live reporting and accompanying text for the details. This will allow both the immediacy of the TV news and the more detailed reporting of print media.
Dave
5 - gonzo marx
ya will see it when the conditions of technology reach the level mike said above
once folks have their dick tracy videophones hooked into wireless broadband..and can update their blogs form their blackberry's quickly to insert the content..
then "News" as we have known it for the last 100 years is gonna be something totally different..
should be Fun, folks...
Excelsior!
6 - James
You don't think that having companies directly sponsor journalists will increase the temptation to pander to corporate interests?
7 - Dave Nalle
You mean they could pander MORE than they already do?
Dave
8 - David Flanagan
I agree with Dave. That temptation already exists. The only change that I see possibly is that there may be more pressure under the "mobile media" system I propose on individual journalists whereas before I believe the pressure existed more at the organizational level.
Thanks,
David
9 - mike hollihan
Back from a good night's sleep. Still no links, though. ;-)
I just saw last week something of a view of the future. We had a severe storm move through the Memphis area, spawning funnel clouds and small tornadoes. At least two stations ran videophone pics and digital pics emailed to their stations by viewers. They were also doing lots of cut-ins (much more than in the past) with either professional weather spotters or folks they trusted phoning in reports of tornadic activity.
The pics were fascinating, but also placed the stations in the difficult position of asking for more pics -- and intervieweing those who had them -- while still cautioning viewers to remain indoors and away from severe storms.
Traditional, "objective" news will still have a market from older viewers, but I think the new digital generation is already used to filtering what they see and hear, selecting those news sources they most like or trust. That's not a bad thing, either, despite the bleating of the newspapers. Remember, the norm in American history was for every community to have many newspapers serving many different social, political and ideological camps. Pre-WWII New York had more than *40* daily and weekly newspapers! Up until the Eighties, most communities had at least two newspapers.
Diversity is good! It cultivates thinking skills, listening ability, reasoning ability and fosters debate. News and opinion are inextricably linked, a function of what's happening, what gets reported and what gets ignored, who reports it and how, to whom it's reported and all the needs, expecations, demands and politics of the audience. A handful of sources can't cover all that.
In five or ten years, you'll see nearly every city in the country with a couple of websites that are open to submissions of pictures and video by the public. While a lot of them will have the usual flood of "look at us" pics, there will also be pictures of accidents happening, fires, robberies, public disturbances, etc. Pictures of alleged drug dealers and drug corners. Public figures spotted in public places with questionable guests.
The real change will accelerate when those communities which have difficulty with police relations can take and post pictures as they happen. Think Rodney King, but real-time and unedited. No identity protection for accused officers. No media suppression or editing. Imagine angry people able to see it happen moments after the incident, able to text-message a response to the situation, and then able to assemble in response before the police have even finished. That will be interesting....
10 - David Flanagan
Mike,
Excellent comments and thoughts on the subject! I agree completely. In my mind, todays print media could become a hub for exactly that kind of activity.
They gather the incoming news, analyze it, get commentary from official sources, merge the news, opinion, and analysis of dozens or even hundreds of incoming bits and pieces of information, and then report back out with the larger picture and professional analysis.
Thanks very much for you comments.
David