August 2004 Archives

Reading a newspaper or two at lunch (because I usually miss breakfast) is my favorite part of the day. The Circuits section of the New York Times is the highlight of my Thursdays, and I always read it at the dining room table rather than on the web. I am an internet geek, but I still prefer The Real Thing.

Part of me has always insisted that the web won't exterminate newspapers as quickly the newspaper pessimists and web optimists suggest. Each day, I watch a dozen college-aged girls swap sections of the paper over lunch. And when we decide which subscriptions we'll be ordering for the year, the weekend Kansas City Star and Newsweek always get top votes. While I know I have an atypical sample of young people, we're proof that even if papers' audience may be aging, there is still a population of dedicated young readers.

Sure, circulation may decrease. But web news isn't superior enough to steal away the whole newspaper audience yet. Most web news sites don't even have a stable economic model. Site visitors don't want to have to log in to content — let alone pay for it — and they won't stick around sites plagued by pop-up ads either.

I'm not saying that news will stay analog forever — It's evolution, but evolution's usually a pretty slow process. Eventually the web guys will find a workable economic model. Will my kids grow up reading newspapers at our breakfast table? I hope so, but it's quite possible they won't. I suspect major metro papers will find a way to survive, along with a decent showing of niche papers, while the "average" paper will find a more stable home on the internet.

The way I imagine it, I'll get my news wirelessly through news feed subscriptions much like current RSS readers, but with better built-in multimedia. My shiny little phone/computer/whatever device will show the latest headlines of whichever news sites I've paid to access. One click takes me the full article, another click might take me to video or a discussion forum. And since this is the future (so I'm reading my news from the offspring of a cell phone), the discussion forum might not be text-based, but real-time audio chat, instead. Maybe I have to pay extra for that. Surely someone would pay to argue out loud with strangers from the convenience of their own home. Isn't that what technology does for us, allow us to interact with people without really interacting with people?

Rants on isolation via technology aside, the future of internet news is uncertain. Whatever it is, it'll impress us when it comes. But I'm planning on Thursday being Circuits Lunch for the foreseeable future.

We ended the first full week of classes in the multimedia newsroom on an up note Friday. The students who will be making sense out of all this technology, my online editing class, met in the newsroom's training area for the first time.

Our guest during class was Tom Bell, editor and publisher of the Salina Journal. Our topic: "The future of newspapers and TV news in an online world." Friday's class was the kind of a morning that keeps teachers in the business. The students were prepared and engaged. Tom said he was impressed. The discussion was stimulating.

We talked about anonymous call-€in lines and new economic models for Web newspapers. And these young journalists had some definite ideas about the future. Take a look at what Matt Rodriguez, for one, had to say. You will be meeting all these students on the blog as the semester rolls forward.

Tom Bell, editor and publisher of the Salina Journal, inaugurated the dry erase board in the multimedia newsroom training lab. He led the 694 Online Writing, Design and Production class in a rousing discussion about the future of newspapers.

It wasn't long after television came about that people were swearing radio would be a thing of the past. But, alas, our need to keep our eyes focused on the road, our work or be entertained outdoors continues to make this medium useful. In fact, it's getting technological upgrades now that we are broadcasting from satellites.

People marvel at how technology seems to bring the world together. As technology continues with text messaging cell phones, Internet capable handheld computers and Wi-fi locations springing up all over, our connectivity to another human is less and less defined by physical presence. It's this lack of geographical binding that has the mass audience depleting dependably over time.

I would be willing to bet a cable modem that the amount of time in morning news blocks dedicated to traffic and weather reports has increased dramatically as otherwise tight fisted station owners dole out cash for fancier weather forecast radar and helicopters specking the sky for a live look at traffic. Even journalists consider the importance of the mass audience less important according to this Poynter Online - Reaching a Mass Audience Continues to Decline.

It is far fetched to claim that television will decline to a weather and traffic monitoring system because of the value of live video and commentary. Television has this ability to alert you of unexpected news in a way that is difficult to replace with thousands of specialized Web sites. The credibility of the journalists on television for national and emergent news is unique compared to the sharing of ideas that can stand or fall on their own.

The audience uses the Web, while television has to engage the audience. The doer switches seats from one medium to the next, and that changes the level of jargon, credibility and reliability the audience expects. Web sites are now springing up trying to further credibility of other Web sites as we speak.

Look at this Web site put together by librarians who look out for reliable sites: http://lii.org/. It would seem odd to come across a television station with programming designed to confirm that CNN or MSNBC has reliable news. This Penn State article seems to indicate that mass media, such as television, aren't really meant to do more than grab interest from the audience. Penn State Television, therefore, may become the general funnel that helps people get to their specific area of interest quickly. Already, stations are telling people to go to its Web site for more information. In this way, stations have a chance to become the credible gateway for the Web medium.

The importance of live news declines in the face of people who want more information about what they find interesting and less information about things they aren't interested in. Where its importance is unequivocal is live coverage of events like 9-11, or watching the women's soccer team win the gold. The craft of commentary and film is unique, just like the radio in the car on the way to work, it won't fade away anytime soon.

The Internet has changed the world. Anyone who disagrees is a fool. It's changed the way we shop, do our homework and even talk with our friends. For some, the Internet has made life easier; for others, the web has made them realize how old they actually are. But the fact is: The Internet is here to stay.

In a way, the newspaper industry is facing the same problem as the music and movie industries. With free music and movies available on-line, customers are asking themselves: Why buy --€” when I can get it for free? Newspaper editors are struggling to find an answer to that question, too.

Newspapers need to evolve with the Web and change in several ways. Most importantly, editors need to alter the news gathering process and change how they present the news both on the web and in print.

The music industry's approach to boosting CD sales was offering customers more information for their money. They wanted to give them something beyond just the music and an album cover. So it introduced EnhancedCDs (a CD that has CD-rom and Internet links that could only be accessed with the original disk) It was a commendable effort, but not successful because customers did not want to pay the extra dollar or two for an EnhancedCD. The concept flopped.

Newspapers also need enhancement. In order for a newspaper to be successful, it must dedicate just as much effort to an interactive website as it does its actual newspaper. Its website must be up-to-date and constantly give its audience news as it happens.

Gathering news should no longer be a photographer using her digital camera and the reporter using his notepad. Why not have the reporter get some audio sound bites to capture a source's emotion? And, if a photojournalist can work a Nikon camera, why not teach her how to shoot b-roll and post it to the website?

This type of converged newsgathering should be the strategy of any newspaper wanting to connect with and inform its readers. By giving them a place to interact with the newspaper, the Internet gives readers a more in-depth look at the news.The Beacon Journal is trying this new approach to its website and I think in some part it is effective. (http://artemis.thebeaconjournal.com/tour1.htm) The Beacon is an award-winning newspaper out of Akron, Ohio. It does an excellent job covering local news and sports. The Beacon has been around for 165 years. It prides its tradition of journalistic excellence and its newest tradition is the Akron Beacon Journal Digital. It is a great example of how old-fashioned newspapers need to take advantage of the Internet and its ability help survive in this world driven by technology.

For more information:Vin Crosbie, longtime online news consultant, says that newspapers of the future must change the way they publish their news both online and off.http://www.ojr.org/ojr/business/1078349998.php