Mike Demo
March 15, 2011 in Essays
Journalism Biz
May 12, 2009 in Essays
Chances are you’ve already heard or read that journalism is dead.
Newspapers are going down the toilet, print is dying and journalists are losing their jobs.
Well, despite any numbers about the business of journalism, I happen to sincerely disagree with the statement that journalism is dead.
Journalism is changing, and of course, with its change will come a change in the business behind the journalism industry.
If people aren’t buying newspapers anymore, advertisers need to look into online ads. If consumers are getting information from sites like Twitter or Facebook, news sources need to connect their names to Twitter accounts. The same is true for the business that keeps new sources running.
The business needs to adjust and that adaptation is beginning now.
The Online Journalism Blog has an interesting blog about how media business models need to change. In its change, the blog highlights three main ideas: (1) readers are worth less (or in other words, advertising is cheaper), (2) content is free and (3) the realization that you don’t own the platform.
The biggest change in the journalism industry right now is that journalism is becoming a conversation. 10,000words.net blogger Mark S. Luckie constantly includes this idea in his thoughts.
Citizen journalism can help “real journalists” tell stronger stories with more accurate information.
I’m not getting a degree in journalism, and I don’t know much about business. But I do know that the bigwigs who run news outlets need to recognize the change happening now and adjust.
Still here
May 11, 2009 in Essays
It’s a strange beast.
Journalism evokes a wide range of emotions from people who know the profession and people who simply read about it. It’s been described as wonderful, evil, biased, unprofessional, intelligent, lazy, yellow and an assortment of other adjectives.
The bottom line is that journalism has been there from the beginning. It started as word of mouth and storytelling. It transformed into leaflets and tablets in later years, progressing to newspapers, magazines and electronic media at its present stage.
But at its base, what is journalism?
Is it the process of taking events and transcribing them into stories people who don’t care may still want to read? Is it the attempt to make money from stories people can now read for free online? Is it an attempt to sway the general public to believe what’s best for them is what you say it is?
No. Journalism is simply information.
The industry as we know it is struggling. Life is getting busier every day and people are pretending they don’t have time to read anymore (although they watch three hours of the same episode of SportsCenter). The economy is struggling so people are cutting back on things they think they don’t need. They cut back on things to save time. We are slowly become a world of headline-readers. Very few people have or take the time to get the whole story.
As a result, our society is becoming more and more blind to the real issues in the world. People are turning a desensitized eye to important issues abroad and at home. It’s slowly become a world more concerned with celebrity and reality television than nuclear threats or impending wars. Even in the current state, journalists, the few who are left and still enjoy their jobs, are getting a bad wrap. People are becoming more critical of what they read and more harsh in their responses. Check out the comments toward Jason Wren’s dad to get an understanding of this idea.
Maybe people need to be more critical of themselves first.
Journalism is simply information. It is transference of relevant detail from one entity to the next. It is important to all parties that become involved in the process and it pushed our lives forward into tomorrow.
The profession as we know it may be dying, but information will always be around.
And while it is, the world will still need journalism.
Journalism: moving forward
May 11, 2009 in Essays
I have a unique vantage point from which to view the transitions facing our industry. This semester I’ve worked as a graduate research assistant for Knight Chair in News, Leadership and Community, Pam Fine. This spring we conducted a time-use study with some of the top newspaper
editors in the country.
The goal is to gain a better understanding of
how these editors budget their time. Data is still coming in, but an incidental finding appears to
be that many participants are spending increasing amounts of time
dealing with organizational change–things like restructuring, finances, new technology, and staff training–and less time focusing on the
production of news.
It certainly is an interesting time to conduct such a study: furloughs, layoffs, buyouts, belly-up.
How are newspapers to survive? Two words: horizontal integration.
In order to survive, newspapers must recast themselves not as print outlets, but as media outlets. The method(s) by which a news outlet chooses to disseminate information becomes a strategic business decision, based on the needs of the target audience. Not just print, broadcast or online, a true multi-platform approach to provide readers information on their terms–in their preferred media formats.
It’s an even more interesting time to be fresh out of college, looking to land that first job as a journalist. So, moving forward, what skills are required to be a successful journalist?
I interviewed CNN’s Political Director and Senior Executive Producer of Political Programming, Sam Feist, to get his take on what skills journalists need to be competitive in today’s media marketplace.
CNN’s Sam Feist on skills journalists need from Josh Patterson on Vimeo.
And for those who can’t adapt…
Letting journalism grow in a new way
May 9, 2009 in Life outside the newsroom, Those lazy days of summer
During my J500 Media and the Environment class we learned a lot about urban farming.
We each were assigned a farmer to create a blog about and we also had to help on a podcast.
Talking with Ericka Wright about her farm, the Troostwood Youth Garden showed me that urban farming was all about adaptation. Her neighborhood has very little fresh food around and a lot of youth. She decided to start a garden in her own yard to feed her community and help educate the kids.
This is what journalism needs to do.
Adapt. Find new ways to present information. Become better at everything.
For a while I just considered myself a photographer. Then after working at the Kansan I considered myself a photojournalist. Now after learning about blogging, copy editing, video editing, dreamweaver, fireworks and podcasts I have the confidence to say that I am a journalist and I am proud.
I am the future of journalism. Adaptation and learning a little bit of everything
Pennies for the Press We Trust
May 8, 2009 in Essays
There are some things that I am just willing to put a littlemore cash towards. I buy local honey because I don’t support carbon footprint
that happens when honey is transported from the far corners of the world. I buy
my bread at Great Harvest because I know and I like the workers. I buy the $2.19 can of organic tomato
sauce because it just plain tastes better than the 99 cent generic can.
In summary, I reach a little deeper into my pocket because
of my social convictions, because I know and trust the producers of certain
products and because of the quality of the expensive product is just better.
Those are three reasons that people should consider paying for great news
service like that of the New York Times.
Millions of readers tune in to the New York Times every day.
It is a trusted source that has only embraced the challenges of the advent of
technology by treating their readers to videos, photos, slideshows,
interactive graphics and audio. Currently, any reader with internet access
can view these treasures for free. But is that the best idea for the company?
In Romanescko’s last entry on
PoynterOnline, he suggested this unique
business model for the New York Times. He suggested that with just a $1 a month
(or 3.3 cents a day) contribution from its visitors, the Times could earn $240
million in new annual revenue.
In this age of
struggling newspapers, Romanescko’s plan may be more than a business model
for the Times, it may be a lifeline.
So, in conclusion, I want to say–why not? Shouldn’t we be
willing to pay for the press that is the best of the best? I know that it’s
worth it to me. I’ll make the small sacrifice to enjoy the freedom of having a
press that I can trust. If my 3.3
cents a day protects transmission of knowledge, and therefore democracy, than I
am game.
Information isn’t free
May 6, 2009 in Essays
In a week, I will walk down the hill as a graduate of the University of Kansas with a journalism degree. I know I should be proud of my accomplishment, but lately I’ve been asking myself: How much is a journalism degree worth these days?
It seems like every day we hear about budget cuts, layoffs, shrinking newsrooms, and newspapers closing. The fact is, quality journalism takes time and costs money. And when information is given away for absolutely free (via the Internet) reporting and writing is compromised. I’ve heard of journalists themselves discussing how great it is that people can access information for free, but without a viable business model, journalism becomes more of a hobby, not a career.
So, what’s in store for the future? It’s quite obvious that traditional media, such as newspapers, are becoming less and less important and convergence of media on the Web is here to stay. It’s up to passionate journalists to do their best with what’s available to them to uncover stories and present them in a multimedia medium. Again though, journalism costs money, and when the product is given away for free, it will eventually become extinct.
Recently, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing about the future of journalism. David Simon, former reporter and creator of “The Wire” testified before the committee. He has some interesting ideas, including charging for Web site content. This seems like the most obvious and logical idea. Information costs money to gather and produce, so it shouldn’t be given away for free. At the very least, certain, specialized sections should require paid subscriptions.
No one knows what will happen to the journalism industry. At the very least, it’s a promising sign that experienced, knowledgable people are getting together to offer their best solutions.
Remember this equation
May 3, 2009 in Essays
I was going to write a blog on the importance of convergence as we enter a new age of journalism. You know, that’s supposed to be the business of journalism these days. Breaking news. Post updates to the Web. Incorporate video into your story packages. Accomplish more work, yet do it all in the same number of hours as before you had all the work. Oh yeah, and for the same pay. Sometimes, even for less pay. And with fewer staffers.
That is the journalism world we live in. The question is: Why in the heck would anyone our age want to join this poorly-structured, archaic and supposedly dead-in-the-water profession?
Good question.
I ponder this often. It seems rather insane sometimes to think about the amount of work that goes into and cost of an undergraduate or graduate education for a profession with a poor business model that doesn’t pay very well. And yet I’m less than a week away from graduating with a master’s degree in journalism.
Apparently, I am not alone.
I came across this article a couple of weeks ago, then found it again this morning when I Googled “Journalism convergence” and clicked on the News tab.
A couple of fun snippets include:
“For almost $100,000 (including room and board) over two years, USC’s graduate journalism program will prepare you for a profession that features low pay, long hours and an uncertain future. You’ll learn to produce video, to blog and to write a tight news lead.”And the best part:
“Chris Nelson, 29 and a refugee from a DVD production job in Hollywood, told me Annenberg students aren’t so naive that they’ve overlooked the sickly media job market. But they’ve embraced an axiom: Crisis=Opportunity.”
And then it starts to make sense. Maybe veteran reporters are receiving the axe, and the current business model surely sucks, but WE are the future of journalism. We will be responsible for carrying out the tasks that will keep the business of journalism afloat. We can do it better than anybody else. We’ve grown up with the Internet, blogging, podcasts, and video, so we understand what is necessary to produce a quality product in the “new era” of journalism. I hope this isn’t just me being naïve, of course.
After all, crisis = opportunity.
Nooooo my trials are ending
May 1, 2009 in Essays
The dreaded day is approaching. I keep seeing the signs and the warnings. I want to ignore them, but I can’t. I only have 4 days left with my trial of Office 2008 for the mac.
The truth of the matter is I would not have been able to create my final projects if I didn’t have these trials. I am a poor college student. I can’t afford to buy the real versions, so I cherish every day the trial versions stay active.
With the changing business of journalism, many students need these programs to keep up with the times.
When I was preparing the assignment for the midterm in this class, I introduced this interview scenario for new journalists fresh out of college:
So you want to be a journalist huh?
Fair enough. Okay then can you work with flash? Indesign? How about photoshop? Final cut? Can you take pictures? Can you put them on our website? Can you take video? Can you put that online? How do you feel about interactivity? Do you twitter? Do you blog?
….oh and you can write?
The business of journalism needs to keep up with these demands. As many newspapers are forced to go online only, they need to make sure they avoid easy mistakes.
Still dwelling on the traditional…focusing on the future
May 1, 2009 in Essays
The business of journalism is full of uncertainty and educational assumptions. No one really knows what is going to happen to journalism and the increasing number of journalists who are losing jobs. Society has seen several large newspapers completely go under, such as the Rocky Mountain News, the Baltimore Examiner and the Albuquerque Tribune. It’s a shame to see such great publications disappear. I personally will be disappointed when all newspapers stop printing and go completely online. I enjoy picking up a newspaper everyday, carrying it around with me and reading the news much more than I enjoy getting the news online. This is also where I bring up an argument I have already written about. What about the people who do not have computers, internet access, or even those that do but do not know how to use the technology? How do these people get their news? It is vital to small, traditional, rural towns that get its news from the published weekly newspaper to know what is going on in the community, nationally and internationally.
It seems to me the business of journalism is left in the hands of our current economic recession and current and future journalists. As much as the media and journalists may dislike it, the economy does play a large part in what journalism is and what it will become. If you look at the role the economy has already placed on journalism you can see a decline in publications of newspapers and an increase of journalists utilizing new medias like Twitter, Facebook and other online resources. While the evolvement of journalism is exciting and it seems everyone is ready to jump into using new technologies I would be sad to see the traditional medias disappear. No one knows what the future holds and what sort of new technologies and resources will develop and slowly overpower the traditional types of media that we know and use today. As a journalist I will embrace the “new” but never forget the “traditional” resources that made me the journalist I am
today.