Filed under: General Commentary
As requested, I’d like to offer my comments about the class so far.
1. First and foremost, I’m very glad I decided to take on the extra credits: Time well spent. I’m learning of an entirely different dimension of journalism. Wish it wasn’t always such bad news, though.
2. I’ll be the first to admit I was in the 90% of the class that didn’t take the readings seriously. I don’t have any good excuse except for I’m under a lot of personal, academic and financial pressure, so a lot of important things are taking a backseat until they absolutely need to be addressed. The double pop quiz was a killer; I’m properly ashamed.
3. Michael Rosenblum = One of the best guest speakers I’ve ever heard.
4. I agree that fewer presentations wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Keep up the good work, Professor–I’m certainly not laughing at you on the inside.
Filed under: On the Horizon
Vanish
Where do e-mails go to die? As far as you’re concerned, as soon as the “delete” key is hit, that e-mail is good as dead. And this is just fine for 95% the layperson’s email, made up of mundane information that wouldn’t interest the FBI or even a nosy neighbor.
Why do people you don’t even know mention an embarrassing photo of you at that frat party? Why does that expunged misdemeanor from 20 years kept coming up at job interviews? Many a teenager and prospective employee with unsavory personal details find that digital information, even once deleted, never really goes away.
On the same principles that computer features like “system restore”
But as far as Google, Yahoo!, Hotmail and other e-mail services are concerned, your mail remains alive and well within the annals of their servers.
Filed under: Ways To "Save" Journalism? | Tags: computer, customize, Germany, Internet, Kindle, laptop, newspaper, Niiu, NYT, online, personalize, print, website
Two German entrepreneurs decided to combine the best of the Internet and print.
The fruit of their labors is a customizable newspaper–Niiu readers will simply go online to select from German and international papers and websites. Then, excerpts from categories of their choice will be printed on paper to be delivered.
The founders of Niiu geared their product toward college-age students who seem to enjoy reading their news online, and don’t have enough time to get through the entire standard newspaper.
This new innovation will launch in November, the Spiegel Online International and Forum4Editors report.
At first, I wasn’t “wowed” by this concept. The concept of personalization isn’t new to me by any means (I’m part of the Internet generation, after all). I thought since I get a good variety of news in my (print copy!) of the NYT every day, there isn’t much I would change.
But the ability to get news from international sources piqued my interest–German, Australian, Chinese, Iranian presses and so many others could sit with me and my coffee every morning! That’s a main selling point of the Internet–Instant variety. It takes mere seconds to hop from New York to Tokyo news sites, but you’re quite stuck in the New York state of mind with the Metro edition of the Times.
I feel very strongly about being able to hold my news in hand. I tend to read the paper with a breakfast dish placed on top and with coffee mug in hand. Errant drops of coffee and toast crumbs inevitably get all over–Not something I want to happen with my $300 Kindle or even more expensive laptop. And the librarians won’t allow me to sip and sit in the computer lab.
I’m certainly hoping that Niiu’s launch in Germany is a success and that the concept catches on in the U.S. sometime soon.
In Conclusion: This could prove very useful for those of us who are dragging our heels to “modernize” and read our newspapers online. The Internet seems a bit less neccessary.
Filed under: Ways To "Save" Journalism? | Tags: doom-and-gloom, New Jersey, New York Observer, New York Times, newspapers, NJ, NYT, print, Star-Ledger
An article in the New York Observer described the turmoil in the newsrooms of the once-great New Jersey Star-Ledger. Aptly titled, “In New Jersey, Papers Bleed but Survive,” the story is full of the usual doom-and-gloom of staff cuts, closed bureaus and poor coverage.
There’s a sort of mutualism between young whippersnappers trying to break into the field and flailing newspapers. Newspapers have a diminished budget, so they can only afford to hire less-experienced journalists who are willing to work for less than the seasoned veteran. Good for the new kids on the block looking for a job, good for the publishers who don’t have to turn the lights off just yet.
But not so great for the newspaper.
A lot of the senior people who understood the issues and who had long histories are gone,” he said. “They’ve replaced them with these younger people, and when I talk to them about environmental issues or technical issues, you see that their eyes are rolling and they just don’t understand. They’ve already got two stories to do, and then they turn a complex story into a he-said, she-said with a couple quickie quotes.”
–Jeff Tittel, Director, NJ Sierra Club
It’s apparent that multimedia skills are more important than ever, but it may not have occurred to journalism students to take a biology class or two in addition to the broadcast one. Having a concentration in politics or business in addition to the journalism major will prove useful if one eventually lands a job at National Geographic or the Wall Street Journal. But what if you’ve got to work at a fashion magazine?
In conclusion: You’ve got to be a jack-of-all-trades in order to “make it” and be of the greatest service to journalism.
Filed under: General Commentary | Tags: Amazon, book, e-reader, Facebook, Kindle, Papyrus, Sony, Wal-Mart, Wi-Fi
Many of the important things of my life are intangible: That is, they’re digital.
Thousands of family pictures never made it to the printing kiosk at Wal-Mart, but they’re stored neatly on my hard drive.
The blog entries I’ve painstakingly written on topics like my menial job, to current events and bus rides are kept within WordPress’ servers.
Much of the contact I have with my friends and family is electronic, saved on my Facebook page.
The music I listen to is kept on a small, plastic device protected by a shealth of rubber, accessible through some wires and a plug.
Although I can interact with these things on a faily consistent basis (provided that Wi-Fi is as plentiful as air), they wouldn’t do me much good on a deserted island or even during a power outage. This increasing level of disconnect from meaningful things has spread to my most treasured possession: Knowledge.
I’ll never own an E-Reader. No Kindle, no Papyrus, no Sony Reader, no sir–not for me.
I like being able to feel the pages beneath my fingers and underline with a regular yellow pencil (none of this “stylus” with a rubber tip and pixelated drawing lines). I take comfort in knowing that my book can soak up a few drops of my morning coffee and shield my head in a brief dash through rain. I’m more financially (and environmentally) responsible for spending $3 on a used copy of Republic than for hundreds on a fragile, technologically advanced gadget.
And I like being able to impress guests by lining my shelves with difficult-looking books.
Filed under: General Commentary | Tags: Internet, journalism, Journalism 24/7, Journalism Online, micropayments
How great would it be if Journalism Online’s model came to fruition? What if it was the portal to every reputable newspaper and magazine? There’d be no confusion over whether I’d subscribed here or gotten 15 article credits here: Just one centralized account, with one password, one username, one way to pay, and one place to keep track of it all.
Not only would I be doing my part to save journalism (and my future career), but I’d be able to atone for my past “sins” against the industry: Accepting their products for free. If it’s a cent or a nickel here or there, that’s petty cash that just about anyone can spare. Like I said before, if I can’t get it anywhere else, I’ll cough it up.
My mother was telling me that it’s a novelty for her generation to get anything for free–the Internet and its services are mindblowing to the 35+ group. Free music? Free web hosting? Free videos? Free shipping? Free pictures? Free news articles? Astounding. The under-30 generation expects it, but the 30+ group expects to be charged somewhere.
Professor Selvin brought up the good point that the Internet was created for free communications. That is true, yet newspapers and the like were designed to make a profit. Everybody wants their piece of the pie, and journalists are increasingly deciding they do too.
And why should anyone withold it?
Filed under: Ways To "Save" Journalism? | Tags: Journalism 24/7, Journalism Online, micropayments, journalism, New York Times, NYT, J.O., model, Google, News Corporation, journalists
Journalism Online is a service that will ideally help news publishers to capitalize on their online content. They don’t actually supply content–they are a kind of PayPal-like middleman between readers and online news providers.
Their model presents a centralized place to pay, instead of subscribing to each individual outlet. J.O.’s service “allows customers to have one easy-to-use account common to all the publishers’ websites.”
As of right now, J.O. has quite a lot of intererested publishers (like News Corporation, Google and I.B.M. to name a few, as reported by the New York Times), and a press release in September by J.O. reported that they had recieved over 1,000 letters of intent from various magazines, newspapers and online news sites.
It looks like plently of news organizations are ready to set sail on the S.S. Journalism Online, with the fine details of costs and methods of charging yet to be hammered out. It’s a big risk for content providers, to be sure–but the fear of losing readers was one of the things that got them into this big mess to begin with, so I think that every media outlet should jump aboard.
It’s important that reputable news outlets are all in solidarity about charging for their online content–otherwise, many consumers will just keep subsisting on the free stuff. I think the informed ones among us would agree that we just can’t live without good, quality news. If there’s no substitute for it, we’ll undoubtedly pay for it. For right now, however, it’s just a matter of smart personal-spending–one doesn’t want to pay for something if they can get it somewhere else for free.
In conclusion: If they would agree, I would agree. Journalists unite!
Filed under: Ways To "Save" Journalism?
“The Budget Newspaper,” of Sugarcreek, Ohio, is a weekly print publication that primarily serves the Amish communities of America and “is a newspaper in which the good news reported in its pages routinely outweighs the bad,” according to its website.
The newspaper is subscription-only and doesn’t have a full website (although its editors, who aren’t Amish, maintain one that has the news highlights available for preview). The advertisements accepted are only done so in accordance with Amish values.
The Budget Newspaper’s content is provided by “scribes” from the scattered Amish communities around the U.S., who give the information to the editors, who then write it into a story for publication. The paper is then distributed to subscription holders.
I can’t say for certain, but I don’t suspect the Budget Newspaper is turning a profit, even though they essentially get free “reporting.”
What if the Budget Newspaper’s model was applied to a bigger newspaper? The content would be provided by contributors who write about happenings around the town, city, state or country for free and then sent in to be edited and published. A good deal if every credible journalist was able to work for free. So how is the Budget successful?
It’s important to consider the content here. A giveaway that the paper isn’t likely to be objective or balanced lies in their claim that more good news than bad news is routinely published–but that’s what sells. The typical Plain person doesn’t want to read about New York City’s crime rates–much more comforting (and relevant) is the article on the 2009 Ohio Swiss Cheese Association’s recognition banquet. I suspect many of us would be more willing to write an article on a local cheese maker’s victory for free than poring over records, interviewing officials and walking the mean streets of the Big Apple for absolutely nothing.
In conclusion: The Amish model for monetizing journalism won’t work for corporate America. The feature-y, warm and fuzzy tones of The Budget’s articles make it clear that it would not satisfy the English people’s need for the so-called “bad” news.
Filed under: Ways To "Save" Journalism? | Tags: CNN, crowdsourcing, Jigsaw, model, New York Times, NYT
“Jigsaw’s Business Model Is Based On Crowdsourcing,” by Jim Lohr for the NY Times
From the article:
Jigsaw offers discounts and essentially barter arrangements for contributors. An individual member, for example, pays $25 a month for access to 25 contacts or, alternatively, can contribute 25 contacts. For corporate members, who often want unlimited access to the Jigsaw database for their employees, the monthly rate is typically $99 a user if the company does not share data, and $79 a user if the company does.
If this was to be applied to an online newspaper or a news channel’s website, for instance, a consumer would pay by the article/video/etc. accessed. The method of micro-payment has been examined before, but it also combines a bit of give-and-take. Since Jigsaw is a business database, it logically accepts business data as currency–Cash and more desirable material that make the site more comprehensive make it successful.
What if this were applied to a hypothetical news provider? A consumer would pay a monthly price of, say, $30 that would allow access to content until the money ran out (like a gift card). Another option would allow unlimited access for $20, and in addition, the consumer must provide 10 unique pieces of content for the outlet to use.
That last option would allow everyone to be a content producer in exchange for viewing the site’s articles, videos, blogs, whatever. The obvious problem with this is that the organization would probably get a lot of useless and poor-quality material in return–Like how someone might give a fake e-mail or phone number for a raffle entry.
Even if the second option were only open to people with credentials, even the most accomplished journalist needs an editor. Ideally, the website would operate as it always had and without requiring new staff.
Plus, I think most journalists empathize with news sites requiring payment and would cough up a few bucks anyway.
Perhaps a model like this one could best be applied to a news provider with a niche audience–A dog news provider, for instance. Aside from being a fantastic networking tool (Imagine–all dog-lovers of the world unite!), this site could establish itself as the one-stop-shop for all things dog-related in the news sphere–Dog owners, veterinarians, dog walkers, dog groomers, dog photographers, all providing original content… But how many veterinarian journalists do you know?
This is probably why the beat reporter was invented.
In conclusion: Jigsaw’s model wouldn’t work for the New York Times or CNN’s, for example, websites.
Filed under: General Commentary | Tags: advertising, Church and State, editorial, M.B.A., Michael Rosenblum, money, Sulzberger
Every once in a while, I’m fortunate to have moments of epiphany. I felt a moment like that on Friday as I was listening to Michael Rosenblum. Although I won’t say I’m on the same page concerning the separation of editorial and advertising, I will say this:
We journalists have indeed been selling ourselves short. Or perhaps more accurately, we haven’t been selling ourselves at all.
It just doesn’t make sense to go into a profession without considering the financial aspect– I know I’ll be able to eat, but why aren’t I asking myself, “How can I feast?”
I will no longer ask myself how I can be the best serf for the Sulzberger’s. Instead, I will ask myself how I can be the most savvy and make the most money. After all, everyone’s got to make a living.
Rosenblum put it into perspective: A journalist can brag about being purely objective and giving only the news that people “need” until he’s blue in the face–But he likely won’t make much green trying to be the next Cronkite. In other words, being noble is a nearly thankless job, and it doesn’t pay as much as we’d like it to.
I don’t think anyone would answer “the money” when asked why she wants to become a journalist. But, maybe if I play my cards right, someday I could.