journalism

Brianne Sanchez on The Future of Journalism

by Andy Brudtkuhl on December 9, 2008

Guest post from Brianne Sanchez
Brianne is a former Chicago suburbanite, MU J-school grad living in Des Moines, IA and writing for @dmjuice @metromixdm and @DMRegister. Brianne and I have had many discussions on the future of journalism and new media so I asked her to share her thoughts during our week long series on the future of journalism and the media.

I’m excited! Andy Brudtkuhl asked me to guest post on The Future of Journalism (all caps add drama, right?) for his blog, “Get A New Browser.” It’s my first guest post at another blog and I’m worried I’ve gone on far too long:

Let’s get one thing straight: Journalism has a future. It just isn’t going to be flung at your doorstep in a plastic sack, or pop on the TV at 5 and 10 p.m.

I believe in the profession of journalism. Great storytelling is going to live on. As the Fourth Estate, our nation and world media outlets need to keep investigating.

It’s just that, as much as I love to curl up in bed with the Sunday paper and coffee, even though I have daily delivery, sitting with the physical paper is not how I typically get my news. Since I’m employed by a newspaper, I could feel bad about this. Or, I could be realistic about my media consumption and recognize that the habits of my generation are going to dictate the future of the industry. I can interact, and listen and suggest changes to how we present our content. Awhile back, I blogged about the future of journalism and used a comparison to the auto industry. Seems that was a post ahead of its time.

This week especially, there’s been a lot of doom and gloom about The Demise of Old Media and the Big Three. Coincidence? We’re talking about two industries where consumers are demanding products that require serious innovation and retooling of production. I don’t think media is going to get a bailout. Craigslist and the demise of classifieds is a problem. I’m not going to pretend I know much about funding the newspaper industry, or have a non-advertising based business model to save the day. But I do know our budgets are getting smaller and so are our staffs.

Our readers have the networks and tools to create these products on their own if they feel they’re not being properly served. We’re going to have to offer content across different platforms. We’re going to have to open up lines of communication. We’re already seeing this happen with mobile apps and citizens and journalists updating about #Mumbai on Twitter.

We need to combine forces with “citizen journalists” (AKA people who would be great potential sources but who are breaking the news before us.) We need to use the web to post drafts of stories, ask for feedback and answer the questions readers really want answered. (Also, readers are the critics, writing restaurant reviews on sites like Yelp and Metromix.) There are a lot of gems in citizen journalism, but a lot of noise, too. We need to link more to other work that will serve our readers and keep us from reinventing the wheel and to add context to stories. We need to examine the idea of gatekeeping and do an even better job of listening to the people on the other side of the gate — where convergence journalism is born. (With that idea in mind, I want to take a closer look at this study.)

The Register knows this. Or, we’ve got a clue what needs to happen. When you’re part of a big company, transition takes time. It’s frustrating. But there’s experimentation going on, and some great online projects have come out of the paper this year: Check out our award-winning coverage of the Parkersburg tornado, and collected coverage of the Postville Raids and aftermath. We’re hosting live chats on a regular basis, with people from sportswriters to chefs. We’re building pages to collect topical tweets. We have blogs and comments (both areas that, on our site, could use serious tweaking.)

As a sort of media tween, with a foot in both Old and New journalism, I see a future where the principals of the former are leveraged to create a more mobile, interactive, customizable and quickly updated version of “The news.” What will this look like? I’m not sure, but I think in my lifetime Fido won’t be able to fetch it.

Our reporters can’t be everywhere, all the time. But if we keep working on a relationship with the community, we can create meaningful content together.

That made me miss journalism school for just a second. (I hope tomorrow’s journalism students have access to web development classes along with journalism ethics lectures, unlike me.)

On a lighter note, the “30 must-have gifts for journalists” on 10,000 words is pretty funny. I bet the journalist in your life would probably be happy with a new pair of gym shoes and a gift card to Quiznos, though.

As always, I love feedback: brianne[at]dmjuice.com

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Alan Mutter – Extreme Cuts at Some Papers

by Andy Brudtkuhl on December 9, 2008

Last week was a mess in the newspaper industry where news of layoffs at major papers filled the headlines (and still are). Well Alan Mutter sees harder times ahead as the industry gets ready to head into the hardest times in the history of the media industry…

Alan Mutter discusses “Where extreme cuts may come at papers“…

The list of potential expense reductions includes squeezing staffing, shuttering bureaus, carving out layers of middle management, telescoping multiple sections of the paper into one, tightening newshole, scrapping syndicated features and wire serevices, axing op-ed pages and book sections and eliminating classified ads on certain days of the week.

In other words, a newspaper that cannot sell enough advertising or cut enough expenses to sustain profitable operations is not likley to make it to the other side of 2009.

Where do you see the cuts happening? What cuts are your local newspaper taking?

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Scott Karp on Link Journalism and Aggregation

by Andy Brudtkuhl on December 9, 2008

Scott Karp founded Publish2 and in this interview he discusses the situation news organizations are in and how news aggregation and link journalism fits in the mix…

How do you change the wheels on the car when the car is in motion?

Key notes:

Original content on the web is at the end of the food chain
Expand what the news organization brand does and what the individual journalist does around the original content
Visual reporting is core at what the news organization does
If you aren’t telling somewhere where to go, then someone else will (Did you read that Des Moines Register?)

Note: The New York Times has recently adopted a link journalism model on its front page…

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Small Newspapers and “Web-First” Web Strategy

by Andy Brudtkuhl on December 8, 2008

Mark Van Patten wrote a great post a couple months posing the question – “Does ‘Web First’ Strategy Make Sense for Small Newspapers?“. Before I go into details, I want to let you know what I think…. and it’s a resounding YES, OF COURSE!

If you are a reader here or know me or heard me speak you know this is a passion of mine. I’ve had many conversations – online and off – regarding the use of the web and the inevitable revolution it is forcing in the media industry. I think it is very important for the success of any traditional media outlet to adopt a “web first” web strategy. In the context of Mark’s post we are talking newspapers – and in his post he references small newspapers. I know small – I grew up with a very small newspaper and live with a relatively small one now.

So what is a “Web First” web strategy that Mark discusses? It’s the idea of treating your website as the first source of news. Mark discusses that his paper waits until the paper is printed before publishing articles on their website. The managing editor at Mark’s newspaper has this to say about a “web first” strategy:

Alexieff [Managing Editor, Bowling Green Daily Newspaper] points out that there is no threat online that can compete with the Daily News. He sees no threat on the horizon because of the capital investment required to launch a site and get a staff in place. He cites the cost and lack of potential revenue as a reason to stick with print instead of adopting a “web first” strategy.

Feel free to read that quote again… That’s what prompted this blog post and the initial reaction of “Seriously?”. He claims not to want to give the readers any more reason to drop their subscription because the website is only bringing in 5% of their revenue. Here’s a tip – it’s because you have the model backwards! When you move your content online first you will get more eyeballs – I promise.

I’ve heard the argument before regarding small town newspapers – “But most of our demographic still doesn’t get their news from the web”. Well then how is a web first strategy going to hurt your subscription base? Repurpose your content – toss it online first. The sooner Google catches it the better off you are.

The longer you refuse to adapt the less agile you will become – and one day your readers will realize they can get their news 100 other places. Upon this realization you will face a huge uphill battle – because people like me got there first. Now I’m not an advocate of ditching the print subscription model. There is still a viable market for that. But don’t tell me that a web-first web strategy is going to hurt that model. If anything at least you will be ready for when the old model collapses for good.

Alert: You should be much more afraid of people like me on the outside that want to change the model than losing your print subscription base.

Mark makes a great point in his closing:

If an entrepreneur sees a crack in our dominance of covering the news, a wedge could be driven in and cause readers to abandon our print edition and our online edition.

What are your thoughts on a web first strategy? Something all newspapers should adopt? What about local television news? Let us know what you think in the comments.

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Alan Mutter on The Next Six Months for Newspapers

by Andy Brudtkuhl on December 8, 2008

Alan Mutter writes the blog “Reflections of a Newsosaur” about the economics of newspapers. In this interview he discusses the near future of the newspaper industry…

“You’re trying to change the wheels on a car that’s coasting downhill very rapidly with nobody behind the steering wheel”

“The next three to six months are going to be the worst ever for the media business” – Alan Mutter