The Future Of News

SUMMER 2009

INTELLIGENT DIALOGUE:
THE FUTURE
OF NEWS

Human Intelligence.
Real Influence.

INTRODUCTION

THANKS TO THE INTERNET, and wide. Anyone can read a piece of Then there’s Twitter, where anybody
everyone’s a journalist. Or are they? news, dash off a diatribe about the can post whatever news they want
We all certainly have the tools to get issue and share it with the world. But straight onto the update stream as long
our message out, whatever that may does that make them journalists? as it’s no longer than 140 characters.
be. But does such access make us a What of reporting standards, writing Yet despite its extreme popularity, it has
new type of journalist? What does the skills, source-vetting, libel laws, no revenue model in place.
future hold for a profession if anyone professional ethics, fact-checking
can take it up whenever they choose? guidelines, copy editing styles—the How does all this affect traditional
traditional building blocks of news organizations? Until recently,
Your next-door neighbor may be a journalism? Will some of those tenets their core offerings were pretty
big fan of “Law & Order.” But would be set aside in the future? From a standard and familiar; journalists
you ask him to draw up legal reporting perspective, what’s the working with established processes
documents for you? Or say your difference between an experienced delivering news to the public in
nephew is a whiz with a crayon and photojournalist on the streets of printed or broadcast form. So what
can build one hell of a LEGO Tehran and a protester with a camera purpose do those organizations serve
mansion. Would you hand over phone and a Twitter account? Can when on-the-spot citizen journalists
drafting duties for your garage they exist in harmony? get the scoops and feed them into
addition? Or maybe you are worried interactive media instantly and for
about recurrent pain in your stomach. It’s an idea whose time has come. free? What happens to news as we
Would you be satisfied with a Grassroots citizen reporting and knew it when traditional news
diagnosis from your hypochondriac everyman commentary via social organizations’ advertising revenue
office mate? media and blogs are a fact of life. In and audiences are going online?
some cases there’s an editorial
There’s no talk of “citizen lawyers” process in place. For example the Over the past nine months nations
or “citizen architects” or “citizen pioneering OhmyNews, based in around the world have watched in
doctors.” Yet plenty of lip service is South Korea, gathers reports from bewilderment as the automotive
paid to “citizen journalists” these international “citizen” contributors industry faces a massive contraction
days. The implication is clear. There’s but employs a trained editing staff to in demand that’s affecting hundreds
no need to spend time working fulfill many of the traditional of thousands of jobs and
toward a journalism degree, or functions of a news organization. shareholders. Over a longer period, in
climbing the newsroom ladder to OhmyNews has been a critical and the background, the news industry
learn the trade. Via the Internet, popular, if not financial, success, has been facing its own slow-motion
anybody can disseminate a story. since its launch in 2002. The pileup. In this edition of Intelligent
Anyone can latch onto a piece of business model is struggling Dialogue we look at some of the key
gossip or a shocking photo, slap on a however, and a second outpost, in themes of one overarching question:
sensational headline and send it far Japan, has been shuttered. What is the future of news?

HUMAN INTELLIGENCE. REAL INFLUENCE. INTELLIGENT DIALOGUE: THE FUTURE OF NEWS 3

SIGHTINGS
from the
ZEITGEIST

It’s disruptive to business models, which is always
terrifying to people in high-margin businesses. While the
—
ability of anyone to be a journalist— and attract an
—
audience— is noteworthy in itself, the serious threat is a
financial one. And not because of digital copying or other
such stuff. It’s the erosion of the advertising model that
has supported journalism for so long. —DAN GILLMOR, author, “We the
Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People”

4 INTELLIGENT DIALOGUE: THE FUTURE OF NEWS HUMAN INTELLIGENCE. REAL INFLUENCE.

BIG QUESTION 1

WHAT IS THE STATE
OF NEWS TODAY?
IT’S WHEN UNDENIABLE change hits, Ordinary news consumers may not give (“content that attracts consumers’ attention
like now, that we get around to asking the question too much thought. They and advertisers’ budgets”).
fundamental questions about the things we simply want what they want when they
take for granted. want it. News industry professionals,
academics and news addicts are more
> HAS NEWS BECOME
Old patterns of news consumption have A PRODUCT? It’s a sign of the
likely to have their own answers, ranging
irrevocably shifted: Print newspapers and times that readers or viewers of the news are
from idealistic (“information and an
magazines are struggling and folding by commonly thought of as “consumers.” And
accurate account of events”) to bottom-line
the dozen; audiences for traditional TV while journalists may not readily accept this
newscasts are drifting away. And that pace growing perspective, they certainly have
will only quicken as Digital Natives some idea of whom they’re serving.
(who came of age reading news News purveyors have always been
and watching “TV” online) more or less aware of their typical
populate more and more of the audience profile. Some of the more
media market and become key populist titles have prospered by
decision makers. A few nostalgic having a sharp sense of what their
members of our old-media guard audience wants and delivering it;
will surely survive this downturn, but they while loftier organizations have
will no longer be the major players they employed a “know-better” attitude
once were. So, getting down to brass tacks, and given the audience “what’s
what is “news” now? good for them.”


SIGHTINGS
from the
ZEITGEIST

Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a
government without newspapers, or newspapers without
a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer
the latter. —THOMAS JEFFERSON


However, as competition has grown and They have shifted somewhat, with the
the influence of marketing has spread, addition of lifestyle pieces, Web presences and
media organizations have increasingly even iPhone apps (Le Monde, El País, de
come around—willingly or otherwise—to Volkskrant, La Repubblica). Even
thinking of their titles as larger brands and publications as highbrow as The Economist
their audience as consumers. They have get playful with punny headlines and
engaged brand consultants, conducted captions, not to mention that magazine’s semi-
market research and paid ever more serious Big Mac Index and Burgernomics.
attention to what “plays” in an effort to
But they are still demanding reads. And
increase their appeal.
how much detail are readers willing or dumbing down its content in pursuit of
even able to absorb anymore, whether it’s ratings, taking a more populist approach.
> HAS NEWS BEEN current national politics or environmental
A quick glance at newsstands and TV
CONSUMERIZED AND issues, let alone treaty negotiations or long-
running border disputes? How interested schedules confirms that consumers have an
DUMBED DOWN? Some are they? Should they be interested? insatiable appetite for celebrities and
traditional outlets still cover news with a human-interest stories. News coverage of
“long-form” approach, spending time Many providers have decided the controversial Iranian elections and
(and money) producing pieces content needs to be “sexed up” street protests had begun to die down until
that require time and with sensationalized angles the murder of a pretty 20-something
attention from a reader or (the Rupert Murdoch- woman, Neda, was caught on camera and
viewer; this is especially ization of news). Short, video and broadcast worldwide, putting a
true of heavyweight punchy news moments captivating and tragic face on the events.
newspapers that see are interspersed with News and social networking traffic
themselves as being lighter lifestyle spots to spiked. Then Michael Jackson died and
standard bearers for their keep viewers the world’s media suddenly switched
industry, such as the entertained gears. The news of the King of Pop’s
Financial Times, Le (descendands of USA shocking end triggered massive surges in
Monde in France, El País in Today, which has been both traditional media and new media
Spain, Frankfurter Allgemeine nicknamed the “McPaper” traffic. Security and media analysts were
Zeitung in Germany, La since birth). Even the venerable concerned that the sudden loss of attention
Repubblica in Italy and the Volkskrant BBC, Britain’s public service could give Iranian authorities the chance
and NRC Handelsblad in the Netherlands. broadcaster, has come under fire for to crack down more heavily on opposition.


While news pros have always known
that a story plays better when given a
personal focus, has celebrity culture ever
been so dominant? Maybe the easy,
immediate access to breaking news
amplifies our desire for it. But across the
board, in print, on TV and online,
celebrities sell.

> IS DUMBING DOWN
A GLOBAL ISSUE?
Looking outside the English-speaking
world in which News Corporation’s
influence and uber-commercial sensibility
is so strongly felt, the dumbing down of
news is less pronounced. It’s striking that
even the most downmarket, mass-appeal
titles in continental Europe feel far more
subdued than their counterparts in the
U.S. or the U.K. commercial satellite broadcasters—much of ethos is less important than the money.
mass media in the region is entertainment- And most ply their trade as best they can.
Are consumers in those countries really focused and ad-revenue driven, similar to
less interested in pictures of pouting Can we trust that market forces and
the West. Yet entertainment programming
celebrities or stories of sexual shenanigans consumer demand will continue to
does promote audience participation (call-
and greedy executives? What about school generate the cash that news organizations
in shows or text-in votes), empowering
shootings, swine flu, serial killers and need to do their work? After 30 years of
citizens to make their voices heard. That
terrorists (all serious subjects yet ripe for “free market triumphalism,” there’s a
desire to engage and share opinions will
screaming tabloid headlines)? mood of market skepticism; in many areas
likely filter into other areas of interest
of life (finance, health care, environment),
besides celebrity, and audiences will begin
Or is it that “serious” news is still taken free markets alone don’t necessarily serve
to demand it. Already tech-savvy Saudis
more seriously in countries that have a history the common good. Actions that are
and Egyptians are bypassing official
of authoritarian government (Germany, Italy, beneficial in the short term to an
controls to express their opinions.
Spain, former Communist countries)? individual or to a corporation may
ultimately damage its fabric.
Porter Novelli China President John
Orme observes that in China, the media’s
> SHOULDN’T NEWS The most prestigious schools of
role is seen to be a social and political one ULTIMATELY SERVE journalism and news organizations inculcate
(spreading information and knowledge THE COMMON GOOD? the principle that journalists and reporters
rather than creating and selling stories for Worldwide we see public ambivalence serve a much higher purpose than
commercial purposes). Might this be a about journalists and reporters. In the providing info-tainment and filling the space
positive avenue to pursue for countries in U.S., there’s a long-standing complaint between advertisements. The ethos is
which commercially produced news is about the media’s “liberal” bias. In the embodied in the annual prize given by the
becoming devalued and publishers and U.K., critics cry “checkbook journalism” French-based organization Reporters
journalists are losing public trust? and newspapers publish titillating stories Without Borders: “This award honors a
citing “public journalist who, by work, attitude or
In the Arab and
interest”; even the principled stands, has shown strong belief
Muslim worlds,
BBC is accused of in press freedom, a media outlet that
investments in new
having an exemplifies the battle for the right to inform
technologies are
institutional liberal the public and to be informed, a defender
increasing access to
bias. Other countries of press freedom and a cyber-dissident
transnational
are also wary of spearheading freedom of expression online.”
television and
press misreporting Whatever other purposes news serves, in a
Internet news and
or misrepresenting world of complex issues and difficult
opinions that
the facts. Yet the decisions, news has a vital role to play; how
simply weren’t
traditional ethos of else can citizens/voters/consumers make
there before,
the journalism informed decisions about matters of
reports the
profession is more about exposing lies than common interest?
magazine of the European Journalism
Centre. At a conference held last year by inventing them. It’s about discovering and This is certainly the view of The
the Centre for Arab and Muslim Media reporting stories that matter. It’s about International Center for Journalists, based in
Research (CAMMRO), researchers finding and telling the truth. Washington, D.C. It describes itself as a
discussed how political news is currently Some journalists get the chance to do nonprofit professional organization that
covered only “superficially” by Arab that and make big money; some decide promotes quality journalism worldwide in the


belief that independent, vigorous media are In the past, journalists could focus on
crucial in improving the human condition. gathering the facts and assembling them
coherently for editors to process and publish.
> WHAT’S THE JOB OF Journalists didn’t have to think about
attracting an audience or understanding
A JOURNALIST TODAY? distribution; that was the job of the company
For many journalists, it’s a bitter question; that paid them. But as media titles
staff posts are being cut, experienced themselves are struggling to retain existing
journalists are being laid off and the audiences and reach new ones, journalists
prospects for up-and-comers in established can no longer rely on them for exposure
news organizations look grim. Experienced or pay. This issue was highlighted in a live
professionals talking to journalism school discussion on “The Digital Future” hosted younger journalists: “What impresses me
students find it daunting to tell them by the Guardian in the U.K.—itself a pioneer is that there’s a whole new generation of
honestly just what faces them out there. in opening its API (application programming students coming out of universities who’ve
interface) to Web developers. got three times as many skills as I ever
According to American Society of News had. People are learning to adapt very fast.
Editors figures, U.S. daily newspapers According to multimedia tech journalist I’m meeting twentysomething journalists
shed 5,900 newsroom jobs in Robert Scoble: “Old journalists didn’t who can blog, create a Web site, shoot
2008, reducing employment have to worry about … how their video, do audio and write.”
of journalists by 11.3 news or their words or their TV
percent to the levels of or their radio was going to get Whatever the “higher purpose” of
the early 1980s. In the heard by people. If you’re journalists may be going forward, the job
U.K., the picture is online, you really have to work of journalists is to create content in forms
similar; the National at getting distribution, at getting that attract and connect with audiences.
Union of Journalists people to pay attention to you. They may deliver their content through
reports 903 confirmed And that’s a different skill than a established news outlets, or they may
editorial layoffs in the lot of old-school journalists have.” create their own news outlets. That may
regional press alone between Veteran BBC journalist Rory Cellan- sound like a tall order, but most of today's
July 2008 and March 2009. Jones noted a big change in skill sets of established media started small too.


BIG QUESTION 2

WHAT’S THE NEW NEWS
BUSINESS MODEL?

> IS IT POSSIBLE FOR A In the United States, even
venerable newspapers have been
MODERN DEMOCRACY scaling back operations in order to
AND MARKET ECONOMY reduce costs, limiting their ability
to provide their own in-depth
TO OPERATE PROPERLY investigations. In other
WITHOUT RELIABLE countries, the pressures are
SOURCES OF NEWS? less intense but the long-term
There’s a good case for arguing that news trends still apply. Can news
is a necessary utility, as much as water, organizations be run as
power and garbage disposal. Democracy is business conglomerates,
based on the principle of informed citizens applying principles as if
voting on issues that affect vital aspects of they were factories?
life. Could citizens be properly informed It’s a tough call.
without news?


On one hand, Australian-born Rupert aggregators such as Google News,
Murdoch’s globe-spanning News or public news services such as the
Corporation has been doing it for decades. BBC or CBC (Canada), which are
It’s an organization run by news industry in effect utilities. With most
professionals and it makes money, although newspapers and many
the quality of some of its products is often newsmagazines, consumers have a
criticized. It encompasses 20 newspaper choice: Either pay the cover price for
titles in Australia, several major titles in the the printed version, or access the
U.K. (the Sun, the Times) and the U.S. (the online or mobile version for free.
New York Post, the Wall Street Journal), as Only a few mainstream news titles
well as Fox Broadcasting Company in the such as The Economist and the Wall
U.S., Sky Italia in Italy and 39 percent of Street Journal bar full online access
Sky TV in the U.K. without a subscription.
Another example is Italy’s Mediaset News Corp chairman Murdoch
(privately owned, by the investment recently said falling print circulations
company of Italian Prime Minister Silvio and advertising revenues mean
Berlusconi), which owns TV stations that newspapers must begin charging for
command 40 percent of the Italian viewing online content in the near future; readers
audience and a major share in TV will only get the main headlines and
production company Endemol. alerts for free.
On the other hand, the Tribune Group
of property magnate Sam Zell has found > CAN NEWS
the business a lot tougher. In June 2008, ORGANIZATIONS
the debt-burdened owner of the Los
Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, SWITCH TO PAID-ONLY
Baltimore Sun and Orlando Sentinel told CONTENT? There’s a clear
its newspapers that pages should be business case for news content originators
reduced to bring the ratio of advertising to charge for their product. The crunch
to editorial pages to 50:50. Six months question: How will they make it happen?
later, the group filed for bankruptcy As it stands, anyone can freely access major
protection. news titles in most any language in which
they are distributed. If one of those titles
David Simon, former Baltimore Sun
decided to go subscription-only, would
journalist and co-creator of HBO’s “The
consumers pay up to access it, or would they
Wire,” testified to the U.S. Senate
just move on to the others? What would
Commerce Committee: “When locally
make paying the subscription seem
based, family-owned newspapers like the
worthwhile? Should online access cost less
Sun were consolidated into publicly owned
than the print cover price, since there are no
newspaper chains, an essential dynamic,
printing costs and barely any for distribution?
an essential trust between journalism and
the communities served by that journalism Common sense suggests that competing
was betrayed. news titles can begin charging for content if
they all start doing it at the same time and at
“Economically, the disconnect is now
a similar price point. They will need to limit
obvious. What do newspaper executives in
access to aggregators (such as Google News)
Los Angeles or Chicago care whether or
to ensure no leaks—although it’s a fine line
not readers in Baltimore have a better
because aggregators also serve to drive traffic
newspaper, especially when you can make
back to the news sites. Then they will have
more putting out a mediocre paper than a
to hope that new media services such as
worthy one? The profit margin was all.
Wikinews and OhmyNews don’t experience
And so, where family ownership might
the same sort of rapid maturation that saw
have been content with 10 or 15 percent
Amazon and iTunes overtake brick-and-
profit, the chains demanded double that
mortar outlets. And they will have to hope
and more, and the cutting began—long
that consumers won’t decide that a
before the threat of new technology was
combination of publicly funded news
ever sensed.”
sources (such as the BBC and NPR), free-
One of the big problems for news distribution services (such as Metro),
organizations is that the industry standard bloggers and social media don’t offer enough
online (for readers) is “free”—as in zero between them to rival the quality of paid-for
cost. This is not just the case with users of news services. It looks like a long shot.


> WILL A DEVICE items to the consumer—a CD or a
newspaper. But online consumers can
Amazon’s Kindle has deals with book
publishers and a range of newspapers
(à la the iPod or Kindle) choose only the pieces of the package they available for subscription, although only in
TURN THE NEWS GAME want—a song or a story—and leave the rest. the United States. The New York Times
Once consumers have experienced this joined up early; it’s reportedly the best-
AROUND? Through the 1990s flexibility, it’s unlikely they’ll take a step read subscription-based periodical on the
and into the 2000s, the music industry saw
backward and buy the whole package. current Kindle, charging $13.99 a month,
CD sales fall while online file-sharing
ahead of the Wall Street Journal, which
soared. For millions of music consumers, Following the iTunes model, what are
has reportedly sold 5,000
there was no contest; buy a whole CD at the chances of a subscription-
subscriptions at $14.99 a
full price, or grab a few selected tracks based aggregator for news?
month. However, while
online for free? The music industry reeled How might it work?
those prices may amount
and couldn’t get its act together to provide Back in the 1990s,
to less than a few lattes
a worthwhile alternative to illegal file PointCast Networks
a month for a
sharing. It took outsider Apple’s iPod in had a hot “push”
consumer, will they
late 2001 and the iTunes store in 2003 to model—a piece of
be low enough to
break the logjam. It aggregated music software that
tempt a generation
catalogs from various corporations in one downloaded news
that is used to
place, with a pricing model that worked content from major
getting news for free?
for the copyright owners and for players. News Corp
consumers. offered $450 million In a piece for Wired
for the service in 1997, magazine on the Kindle
The news industry faces similar
but the deal fell through: and the newspaper
problems in dealing with the challenge of
Bandwidth limitations, industry, former publisher
online. It’s not just that consumers are
intrusive advertising and other of HarperCollins’ business
getting content free (though legally free in
problems led to its decline and books Marion Maneker wondered
most cases). In their old-media form, the
disappearance. But the time may be right whether the Kindle or a similar wireless
music industry and the newspaper
for a third-party player now. reading device could do for the news
industry presented a physical package of


SIGHTINGS
from the
ZEITGEIST

Columnists such as Thomas Friedman (The New York Times)
and Jeremy Clarkson (The London Times) are powerful “sub-
brands” with their own pulling power; are they on the way to
becoming media master brands in their own right? Both have
best-selling books to their names. For a narrower but more
devoted audience, tech luminary Guy Kawasaki is a bigger and
more authoritative media brand than many mainstream titles. He
has nine books and more than 150,000 Twitter followers, writes
a regular column for Entrepreneur magazine and a biweekly
column in Forbes. Virtually any print title or TV channel would
make space for a Kawasaki piece if they could get one.


business what DVDs have done for could soon make more money selling
Hollywood; he imagines a scenario where iPhone app downloads than it does from
popular pieces in the newspapers are the iPhone itself: “Who knows? The
made exclusively available in a longer, only iron law here is ... that the digital
more detailed “e-book” format on a age has so transformed the ways in
wireless reading device. which things are made and sold that
there are no iron laws.”
In his new book, “Free: The Future of
a Radical Price,” Chris Anderson (Wired
editor in chief and author of “The Long > HOW DID WE GET
Tail”) says that the digital age is pushing FROM AP TO API? Like the
down prices of all digital goods; that music industry, the news industry faces
means written words, sound and images the problem of how to protect its assets advertisers happy. It’s not a money-
in particular. He says success will and make money from content that making proposition.
come from using free content to can be copied and distributed
cross-sell and upsell. On the Some forward-thinking titles have
infinitely at virtually zero cost.
other hand, fellow pundit decided to open their API (application
What the news industry has
Malcolm Gladwell pointed programming interface) to lure the
done differently is to make
out in the New Yorker (in entrepreneurial geek community to help
its content legally available
his review of Anderson’s them morph into the new news
online for free. Most news
“Free”) that the Wall environment. They recognize that people
outlets positively encourage
Street Journal has found outside the news business can provide new
consumers to copy, e-mail and
one million people willing to thinking and help them do some of the
link to their content. There’s
pay for an online subscription, heavy lifting.
precious little in it for them apart
and that broadcast TV (free) is from keeping their name on the radar In March, the New York Times
struggling while cable TV (paid) is doing and maybe attracting pageviews to keep announced the long-awaited opening of its
well. Gladwell wonders whether Apple


SIGHTINGS
from the
ZEITGEIST

We went round with mobile phones and left our
cameraman behind in the car. We got some extraordinary
pictures on our mobiles, just like the people of Iran have
been doing. —JOHN SIMPSON, BBC world affairs editor


SIGHTINGS
from the
ZEITGEIST

Newspapers as we’ve known them are doomed. The conditions
which supported their business model have disappeared. . . .
If experience is a guide, opportunities are more likely to
be seized and defined by start-ups than incumbents. . . . New
cost structures, new use of tools and infrastructure, new
ideas about what content bundles are meaningful will all
play a major role in what emerges. —MITCH KAPOR, founder of Lotus
Development Corporation


API, allowing access to updated news Guardian aims to do by opening its API. The fixed-line telephone infrastructure
content and articles going back to 1981. A The Guardian is positioning its Open was installed for the purpose of carrying
Times story summed up its hopes: “The Platform as a commercial venture, voice traffic. The Internet started as a
Article Search API has been a long-held requiring partners to carry its advertising system for researchers to communicate
goal for a group of us at the Times. We’ve as part of its terms and conditions. with one another. Now the telephone
taken a winding road to get to this point, system is carrying far more Internet data
It remains to be seen whether the open
but it’s just the beginning and we’ll traffic than voice traffic.
API route will do for these news titles what
continue to make improvements. So
it has done for Twitter and Facebook. Mobile phone operators virtually
consider this a beta or 1.0 release, and
Whatever happens, they’ll be learning. stumbled into the cash cow of text
help us enhance it—go build something.”
messaging. The facility for sending 160
In the U.K., the Guardian launched its
Open Platform in March, comprising two
> WHAT IF THE NEW characters of text wasn’t designed to be
consumer-facing; it was a back channel for
products for geeks and developers: NEWS BUSINESS technical messages.
Content API and Data Store. Just as MODEL HASN’T BEEN And the founders of Google were
Facebook and Twitter have rapidly
expanded their functionality and appeal by
INVENTED YET? The experience entirely focused on search as a means to
of the last two decades shows that new- organize the world’s information. They
opening up to outside developers (as Apple
technology business models can be hard didn’t set out to create a new advertising
has also done with its App Store), so the
to predict. medium; it just evolved that way.


BIG QUESTION 3

WHERE DO TARGETED,
CUSTOMIZED 24 / 7
NEWS FEEDS LEAD?
IN A CRINGE-MAKING series of and choose the sources most in line with one. But the essence of narrowcasting isn’t
interviews with New York Times editors, their political leanings, their preferred tone so much narrow as targeted. It’s about
Jason Jones of news-satire program “The (highbrow, humorous), their interests delivering content to a section of
Daily Show” asked, “Why is aged news (sports, technology, health, celebrity). consumers who have actively expressed
better than real news?” While deliberately interest and are most likely to be receptive.
provocative and crass, the point was apt. News
delivered on printed paper is at least a day old
> IS NARROWCASTING There are plenty of ways to do it.

THE FUTURE OF For example, with RSS (Really Simple
in a world where the news cycle is 24/7, with
Syndication), consumers can subscribe to a
several waves breaking each day. What’s BROADCASTING? specific type of news. So they get only the
more, the whole package of the printed For anyone used to the big reach of content they want, and they can consume
newspaper includes content many readers traditional broadcasting, the notion of it when they want without worries about
don’t have the time or inclination to read. narrowcasting might seem claustrophobic. spam, phishing and other security issues.
While print struggles, news feeds abound. As a general rule, reaching a broad RSS content can include text, audio and
With so much choice, consumers can pick audience is better than reaching a narrow video, such as podcasts, and can be


delivered to a computer or a personal programmed DVRs to iPods. We even see
mobile device. News outlets all over the the urge for control in something as
world offer content via RSS feed. RSS simple as people’s choice to drive rather
adoption among U.S. consumers was up to than take public transportation.
11 percent in 2008 from just 2 percent in Narrowcasting and customized news
2005. “While more consumers have made feeds are just another example.
a habit of consuming news daily via RSS
readers, it’s still a pretty geeky individual
act,” says Stephanie Agresta, global director
> WHAT’S NEXT FOR
of digital strategy and social media at Porter 24/7 NEWS?
Novelli. “The real power of RSS lies in For many people, CNN was their first
exponential growth via simple, popular experience of a dedicated news channel hospital, hours before
social networking platforms like Facebook, with around-the-clock updates. Well into major news networks confirmed
Twitter and Friendfeed. You don’t have to the 1990s, at any hour of the day or night, the story via the coroner. By then the Internet
be a super-geek to become a curator of the channel would recycle stories until new was buzzing, with usage overloads reported at
news using these services. In fact, average news broke. News channels have TMZ, Twitter, Google News and Wikipedia,
users have become citizen editors and the proliferated since then, but still it often among others.
newsstands rolled into one. The ease of seems that over the course of a day, there’s Real breaking news is increasingly the
commenting and hitting ‘thumbs up’ has only so much news happening. There’s province of citizen journalists too. When
created an ecosystem for content to only so much potential to fill in gunmen launched terrorist attacks in Mumbai
travel at a much higher velocity to the gaps with analysis and in November 2008 it was Twitter and photo
many more people.” discussion and speculation sharing site Flickr that proved to deliver the
regarding what has already eyewitness account. And just a couple of
The specific technologies that happened.
deliver opt-in targeted news are months later in January 2009 it was a Twitter
still evolving, but the underlying In our hyperconnected user who scooped the first report and photos
driver is clearly a long-term environment, chances are of the US Airways flight that made an
trend: consumer control. If readers someone is reporting what’s emergency landing in the Hudson River.
and viewers have the opportunity happening the moment it No news organization has sufficient in-
and the resources to get what they want happens. And in many cases, it’s not house resources to be everywhere all the
and avoid what they don’t want, they’ll traditional news organizations that get there time; in fact many are more likely to be
take it. It’s human nature, and we see it in first. Celebrity news site TMZ first declared cutting back on presences right now.
the success of everything from remote pop icon Michael Jackson’s death, citing However, with citizen journalists thick on
controls to personalized home pages, from unnamed, unofficial sources inside UCLA the ground, news organizations can be


permanently tuned in to where news may All of this adds up to the rapid emergence Now, distribution is fairly uncontrollable—
break. Before, they had to “watch the of a new news “ecosystem,” with new anyone has access. And it’s not just spies
wires” (Reuters, AP, AFP) and watch one niches and new species and evolutionary using tiny cameras and dead drops to
another closely; now they have to watch developments. However it’s still not clear spread secret information; anybody with a
social media too. Before, they developed a what will feed the new ecosystem. In the camera phone can copy a document or
network of stringers and paid them for old one, rivers of advertising brought in film an event and send it to one person or
tips. Now they have access to a virtually floods of cash that enabled organizations to thousands in a few seconds. It’s
infinite pool of potential stringers via social grow; now the rivers are drying up. Species frighteningly easy for confidential memos
networks, each with better news-reporting that thrive will be those that can adapt to and e-mails to leak. They can be sent to
equipment than most official news agencies surviving on less, or those that find new news organizations, raised in closed special
had a couple of decades ago. ways of generating sustenance (cash). interest forums, posted on individual blogs
or exposed on mass social networks such
> WHAT DOES as YouTube.

THE NEW NEWS The challenge for marketers is to
understand the nature of the channels and
ECOSYSTEM the way information and influence flow
MEAN FOR through them. The difference between the
PROFESSIONAL old news ecosystem and the new one is
like the difference between a temperate
INFLUENCERS? forest and a tropical jungle: The forest has
The size of an organization relatively few species and goes through
and its wallet no longer predictable seasons; the jungle has untold
guarantees influence. species interacting at a furious pace
A big, well-organized and throughout the year. Like field zoologists,
well-funded PR department professional influencers in the new tropical
once set the agenda—it had a news ecosystem have to be constantly on
good chance of managing the the lookout. For example, the recent
flow of news and opinions. It Domino’s Pizza case: An offensive video
organized set-piece events, was posted to YouTube by an unhygienic
cultivated the right contacts, prankster employee. Reaction and chatter
conducted news briefings and spread fast and furious via Facebook and
worked the phones. News was Twitter. The company was quick to act,
fed in well-turned press releases but the video generated close to a million
with contact numbers to field any views before it was taken down. In the
questions. Distribution channels were tropical news ecosystem, things propagate
limited and pretty self-contained. fast and far.


SIGHTINGS
from the
ZEITGEIST

I do wonder why 24 news channels feel the need to ‘sex up’ and
dumb down their content. Obviously one explanation can be the
fact that they must fill the airtime they have allocated.
Personally I have little to no interest in watching them pick
apart an absurdly and questionably newsworthy topic in a vain
attempt to “fill,” I would much rather just watch an actual news
broadcast 30 minutes in length. Instead I find myself often
confused, bewildered and traumatized by the events on my TV
screen. —DUMBING DOWN THE NEWS blog


SIGHTINGS
from the
ZEITGEIST

Back home in India, things aren’t that bad. Circulation and
readership numbers may not be galloping and keeping pace with
rising literacy, income and urbanization levels, but they haven’t
dipped dramatically either. . . . It is not television alone, but
the combined onslaught of television and online media that our
newspapers need to worry about. Online offers the immediacy of
television and the tradition of print, plus the unique
advantages of unlimited space, interactivity and commerce. What
changes the equations now is that the Internet is accessible on
the go on cell phones, and technology ensures that access levels
aren’t a pain. —PRADYUMAN MAHESHWARI, group chief editor at exchange4media


BIG QUESTION 4

HOW DO NEWS
CONSUMERS KNOW
WHAT TO BELIEVE?

EVEN BEFORE THE explosion of the soccer star David Beckham being untrustworthy (if he
blogging phenomenon, it wasn’t always following a front-page report or she falls at the other
easy to know whom to trust. Even in the U.K.’s Daily Star, and end of the spectrum):
traditional news organizations can’t TV personality Sharon Conservatives are quick to
guarantee 100 percent accuracy. Despite Osbourne won damages from spot bias in liberal news
ethics training and editorial process, as The Sun. sources and vice versa. Bias is
well as real risks of legal normal, but ideally there are
In the short term, people may
action and high-dollar enough competing outlets to offer a
buy more papers, but in the long
punitive damage balance; consumers do have access to
term, can the publication really
payouts, unscrupulous alternate views if they care to seek them
retain any more credibility
reporters do exist out. However, in
than a citizen journalist
(Jayson Blair at the countries where free
with a cell phone?
New York Times speech is not the
and The New Add to
Republic’s Stephen this, bias.
Glass are famous Readers
examples). Sometimes an and viewers
editor’s objectivity will commonly
falter, or he or she will run a perceive most any
story in order to get attention, especially given news source as
where politics or celebrity are concerned. having an ideological
Libel damages were recently awarded to leaning, and therefore


norm, the news media generally toe the Now the old guard has been joined by
government line or risk getting harassed or waves of user-generated content—countless
closed down. Consumers in such countries points of view from right-wingers, left-
become adept at reading between the lines wingers, paid news and anonymous
and looking for alternative sources to find bloggers who may or may not be guided
out what’s really happening. Even in “free- by their own set of editorial principles.
speech” countries, traditional news media How can a reader judge whom to trust?
may fall under the sway of a particular
In the events that followed the contested
interest group.
election in Iran, Facebook and Twitter
In Italy, for example, tycoon turned became channels for on-the-spot reports
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has from protestors; the White House even
substantial media interests and exerts a lot asked Twitter to delay planned downtime
of influence on sources outside his direct to avoid cutting daytime service to Iran.
control. According to Alexander Stille, Many Westerners followed apparently
writing in the Columbia Journalism Iranian Tweeters involved in the protests,
Review, political news on Italian state but within a day there were warnings
television (RAI) is required to present the about government agents using Twitter to
government’s point of view, followed by a spread false information. How were those
sound bite or two from the opposition and not on the scene to tell the difference
concluded with a rebuttal from the between information and disinformation?
government. Social scientists have found
Alongside trust in traditional news
that Berlusconi’s control of the media has
organizations’ journalistic process, are
been a major factor in gaining votes.
there ways consumers can judge whether
Nevertheless, all news organizations what they read is true?
have processes in place to do the best they
can to ensure accuracy and integrity of
journalists and the news items they
> DOES THE WIKIMEDIA
produce. The processes may not always APPROACH MAKE FOR
work as intended and they may not MORE TRUSTWORTHY
guarantee balance, but they try. They have
a reputation to maintain, from an ethical,
NEWS?
Like Wikipedia, the Wikinews format
legal and commercial (the brand being
encourages contributors to cite references
acceptable to investors or advertisers)
and sources, so readers can cross-check for
perspective.
themselves, ensuring credibility. The


SIGHTINGS
from the
ZEITGEIST

If the searing image of Vietnam was the AP photo of a girl
stripped naked by napalm, if the image of Tiananmen Square was
a young man facing down tanks, well, the iconic image of Iran
is a cell phone video of Neda Agha-Soltan dying on the streets
of Tehran. And this time the message was in the momentum. The
mournful video was passed from a cell phone in Tehran to an
e-mail address in Europe, then to Facebook and YouTube and
finally CNN. All in a matter of hours. —ELLEN GOODMAN, Truthdig.com


SIGHTINGS
from the
ZEITGEIST

Twitter trending topics have replaced CNN as the town crier
for online citizens. Anyone can quickly scan the list for
breaking news stories. But absorption of detailed,
complete information usually requires a visit to another
site or sites. Journalists and media companies, who exist to
generate attention, can do a better job of using these new
tools to tap into new audiences and spread their message as
well or better than “blog celebrities.” Until they embrace
all the tools and maximize the medium, of course the
business model won’t find synergy. —STEPHANIE AGRESTA, Porter Novelli
global director of digital strategy and social media


guidelines for contributors are extensive, doesn’t stand up as a reference on its own, we trust pharmaceutical companies to
ethical and clear. Items either contain it’s a place to start for initial research that foster our health; and we trust financial
original reporting (first-hand links out to primary sources. It’s institutions (some more than others) to
reporting or interviews) or free and often more extensive look after our money.
synthesis of various cited, than any single online
As a Porter Novelli staffer recently
already-reported sources. encyclopedia.
asked, “Why not trust a brand to see and
Wikinews’ So what of Wikinews? speak the truth on our behalf? Is this the
verification procedure, While it may score on new summit for a trusted brand?” Of
like traditional news accuracy, in a fast- course we can’t expect consumer brands to
reporting, inevitably moving news market take responsibility for verifying news from
slows the process, as with a lot of established the Middle East, or from criminal courts
compared with Twitter, players, will the model or even celebrity shenanigans. But brands
Facebook or other social work as well as it has done may find it worthwhile to work at
media. Yet verification for reference information? Or becoming a source in their own area of
ensures objectivity and clarity. will it succumb to lack of speed expertise. For example, Microsoft earned
Although individual contributors and reader trust? respect in the highly critical development
may or may not be trained journalists, community by hiring Robert Scoble as
they are tasked to abide by established
journalistic standards.
> CAN A COMMERCIAL “technical evangelist” from 2003 to 2006.
Scoble covered technical news via his blog,
The Wikimedia brand itself should be
BRAND BE TRUSTED and despite assumptions, he was
reassuring; it’s a nonprofit foundation with AS A NEWS ARBITER? sometimes critical of Microsoft and
One way or another, we trust commercial sometimes praised competitors.
the idealistic spirit of the open-source
movement. However, Wikipedia is far brands with significant parts of our lives. Could this be the simple formula in which
from a trusted source; although it’s the We trust supermarkets to provide us with commercial brands become trusted news
default encyclopedia on the Internet, it’s food that is safe; we trust automakers to sources? Respected expert(s) + privileged
the butt of many negative comments. It provide us with cars that are roadworthy, access to information + branded platform +
does have advantages, however: While it and service centers to keep them that way; editorial freedom = credibility + respect.


SIGHTINGS
from the
ZEITGEIST

In theory, journalists are accountable to readers: If they
report crap, readers will stop reading the publications they
write for, which is incentive enough for those publications to
avoid the crap. The problem is that readers out there want
crap. They want man bites dog, they want Match Ka Mujrim, they
want heroes and villains in their narratives, blacks and
whites, and so on. There’s no getting away from that. But such
readers are everywhere in the world, and tabloids will always
thrive. That is not the problem here. The problem is that here,
we have little else. In England and the U.S., you have the
tabloids, and you have the respectable press doing good, solid
journalism. —AMIT VARMA, IndiaUncut.com, named by Businessweek one of India’s 50
most influential people in 2009


BIG QUESTION 5

HOW WILL TECHNOLOGY
SHAPE THE NEW NEWS?
TECHNOLOGY HAS always shaped the Then came broadcast TV news, where constant news, photos, video and
news—both literally (through its delivery the studio anchors became the central commentary via multiple online and
format) and via consumers’ expectations figures—reading items, describing footage, offline channels.
and experience. interviewing public figures. News joined
Through the 19th century and into
the entertainment context of the living
room. News was events of the day
> DOES TECHNOLOGY
the early 20th, newspapers were MAKE IT HARDER TO
explained in words and images
the only method for mass
distribution of news: the
by trusted, familiar figures. “CONTROL” THE NEWS?
printed word with some With the advent of The yang of new technologies is the at-
graphics, mostly cable, satellite and times chaotic, overwhelming torrent of
consumed in silence at Internet, broadcast news unfiltered news. In many cases there’s
home. News was a morphed into today’s content (X is happening) with no context
written narrative. 24/7 sexy anchors, (Y is the background to X). Getting
catchy graphics, sound breaking news online can be like drinking
Then came from a fire hose.
bites, live feeds, blogs and
newsreels, which
Twitter feeds. News is The yin of new technologies is that
documented events that
whatever it takes to hold the consumers have unprecedented access to
happened within reach of a
attention of consumers who the news and some measure of power to
movie camera. News became
(are presumed to) have a low change the news itself as a result. While it’s
part of the collective entertainment
boredom threshold, a short attention span not always a good thing, it’s truly
context of the movie theater. News was a
and plenty of alternatives—including revolutionary in places where news is
spectacle in which seeing was believing.


would argue that it’s better to have a well background information and to debate
informed society than a poorly informed events. But for many who don’t have the
society. The acid test of how well or badly patience, technology can become a
informed people are is not how many kaleidoscope of disconnected words and
factoids they can play back, but how well images flitting by on the edge of awareness
they can interrelate and make sense of on TVs, computer screens and mobile
them. In a media environment of tweets devices. Gone are old-style focused sessions
and sound bites and news flashes, there’s a of news-consuming via the TV or
risk that consumers get only the content newspaper. The emerging form is quick
(headlines) without the context (the real sessions of grazing multiple sources. News
story and background details) that gives the about a military coup may jostle for attention
headlines meaning. That’s shallow news. with a text from a friend or a work e-mail or
a Twitter update from Oprah. If Microsoft’s
tightly controlled. BBC World Affairs Just as it’s possible for people in an all-
Surface technology catches on, we could
Editor John Simpson, who was on the plane you-can-eat society to be overfed but
even see tabletops in diners, hotels and
to Tehran with Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 undernourished, they can be deluged with
waiting rooms delivering content alongside
as he landed to seize power, gave a news but underinformed. While good
menu options and interactive games.
resounding and moving endorsement to the quality may be available, people
potential of new media in 2009. Reporting lean toward easier, faster, For consumers seeking a
from Tehran after the recent elections, cheaper options. broader, deeper
Simpson said: “This is a revolution sparked understanding of news,
An eight-minute Flash
off by ordinary people with mobile phones. technology is providing the
presentation called EPIC
It is the most extraordinary thing I have means to get it. By the same
2014 succinctly pointed to
ever seen and I have covered many token, for consumers who
this risk of the new news.
revolutions. They were all more ... prefer to confirm what they
The presentation became a
traditional. But this time photos and videos already think, technology is
viral sensation on the
can go instantly on YouTube to be seen by providing the means to avoid
Internet, sketching out a
millions and Twitter and Facebook can accidental exposure to alternative views;
fictional time line of evolving media from
allow the voices and thoughts of ordinary they can hang out in their preferred mind-
1989 to 2014. It posited a vast online web
Iranians to be heard worldwide. It is the set compounds. As a Time Magazine
of information called EPIC (Evolving
most remarkable thing.” writer put it: “For many of us ...
Personalized Information Construct),
technology has actually lowered the odds
What’s more, Simpson and his devised by Googlezon (Google +
of bumping into inconvenient knowledge.
colleagues decided to employ the Amazon). At its best, EPIC is “a summary
... When I’m abroad these days and have
technologies used by the citizen journalists: of the world—deeper, broader and more
to go without my newspaper, I often turn
“The people don’t need broadcasters or nuanced than anything ever available
to the most e-mailed stories on news Web
reporters so much because they have before ... but at its worst, and for too
sites, which are generally opinion pieces
mobile phones and can film themselves. many, EPIC is merely a collection of
(rather than news stories), from which I
We were at the demonstration on Saturday trivia, much of it untrue.”
cherry-pick arguments or facts that
when that poor girl was shot and thought comport with my pre-existing views.
For consumers with the time and the
it would be too difficult to film with even a Reading this way, I rarely stray from the
interest, technology offers multiple
small camera. So we went round with familiar and soothing.”
perspectives, the chance to dig deeper for
mobile phones and left our cameraman
behind in the car. We got some
extraordinary pictures on our mobiles, just
like the people of Iran have been doing.”
As professional news organizations
embrace consumer tools, the look and feel
of some of their output have become
rougher around the edges and more like
citizen journalism. In a news environment
where celebrities and slick presentation are
the norm, along comes shaky and blurred
video, crackly audio and occasional typos—
now touches of authenticity.

> DOES TECHNOLOGY
MAKE THE NEWS
SHALLOW? Nobody doubts that
it’s better to have a well-educated society
than a poorly educated society. And few


SIGHTINGS
from the
ZEITGEIST

In principle, journalism should be in better shape than
ever. The core competence of journalists is to generate
attention. . . . There are today three business principles
for journalism: one that sells content to the audience (e.g.,
newsletters), one that sells the attention of the audience
(e.g., ad-based publications) and one that gets sponsorship
for delivering information to the audience without biasing
the message in favor of the sponsors (e.g., public service).
All three business models depend on one thing: loyal
attention from the audience. In order to draw loyal
attention from the audience, the journalist has to be loyal
to the audience. This is the difference between journalism
and PR. Public relations works on behalf of the source.
Journalism works on behalf of the audience. If journalism
loses the attention of the audience, it will not have
customers. It will not have advertisers. It will not have
sponsors. —DAVID NORDFORS, founding executive director of VINNOVA Stanford
Research Center of Innovation Journalism


SIGHTINGS
from the
ZEITGEIST

YouTube is starting a Reporter’s Center, for which I’ve
—
revealed all of journalism’s secrets— which boils down to
how to cover a crisis and not get shot. The center goes live
in the wee hours Monday morning, and I’m looking forward to
seeing what colleagues in the news biz have done for it. You
can also see my video on my YouTube channel. Lemme know
what you think. —NICHOLAS KRISTOF, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and journalist,
New York Times’ On the Ground blog


IN CONCLUSION

THE ADVERTISING-BASED news even then costs are an issue at a time news sources can be trusted and which
industry model is destined to shrink even when many countries are grappling with can’t. However, the contraction of
more over the coming years. For decades, the economic crisis and facing a spending traditional news organizations means that
advertisers have in effect been subsidizing crunch on health and welfare. Even in there are plenty of trained reporters and
newsgathering and distribution in order to countries with state-funded broadcasting, journalists looking for ways to apply their
reach end users; now they can reach end the mainstream print news industry is skills. And in specialist areas, as the open
users at lower cost without relying on the predominantly reliant on advertising. source coding movement has shown, there
audience pull of the news. And consumers are plenty of people willing to accumulate
The emergence of interactive tools and
now can get their news for free on the experience and share it.
citizen journalism has disrupted both the
Internet or via ad-driven free-sheets, or at
news industry’s business model and its The potential “news ecosystem” that’s
low cost on cable TV.
relevance. It’s an exciting development shaping up is one in which new news
This situation is at its most extreme in that has become a major news story in brands based on expertise and/or
the United States, where the news itself. However, the fact that virtually reputation can emerge. They may be
industry is almost entirely commercially anybody can upload words, audio, individuals, groups of individuals or
based. It’s less drastic in countries where pictures and video to the Internet makes it organizations. They won’t have the legacy
broadcasting is funded by the state, but a free-for-all, which can all too easily costs of printing presses, pension schemes,
become a supercharged rumor mill, an big buildings to maintain and shareholders
echo chamber with little primary reporting to satisfy. They will have the expertise
and no verification. and the credibility to source news stories
directly and/or verify contributed
Ordinary news consumers may not be
sources. They will have the authority to
equipped or bothered to identify which
contract their services to traditional news
organizations, to corporations and
other organizations, or to market
them directly. And they will have
the skills and the savvy to attract
the attention of people that
matter to them, whether
it’s niche audiences or the
mass market.


PICTURE CREDITS
COVER: Creative Commons/Kevin Prichard PAGE 24
Creative Commons/20after4 Creative Commons/Kevin Prichard (from top)
Creative Commons/mandiberg Creative Commons/ST33VO
BACKGROUND COLLAGES (ALL
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PAGES) PAGE 12
Creative Commons/ST33VO
Creative Commons/Howdy, I’m (from top)
Creative Commons/Daniel goes wild
H. Michael Karshis Creative Commons/mandiberg
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PAGE 2
anonymous iranian witness
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(from top) PAGE 27
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(from top)
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PAGE 16 PAGE 29
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PAGE 17
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(from top)
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(from top)
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PAGE 8 (from top) blog || Sr. Cos
(from top) Creative Commons/Takadanobaba Creative Commons/Mike Miley
Creative Commons/Muhammad Adnan (Flickr Break)
PAGE 31
Asim ( linkadnan ) # 2 Creative Commons/jonsson
Creative Commons/James Trosh
Creative Commons/chrisschuepp Creative Commons/Cameron Crazie
PAGE 32
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Creative Commons/gruntzooki
(from top) (from top)
Creative Commons/Yan Arief Creative Commons/dotcompals PAGE 33
Creative Commons/internets_dairy Creative Commons/Gauravonomics Creative Commons/Mushroom and
Creative Commons/Beth Rankin Creative Commons/davidwatts1978 Rooster
PAGE 10 PAGE 21 PAGE 34
(from top) Creative Commons/basykes Creative Commons/dno1967
Creative Commons/Adam Tinworth
PAGE 22 PAGE 35
Creative Commons/luc legay
Creative Commons/runran Creative Commons/dno1967
PAGE 11
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(from top)
(from top)
Creative Commons/mandiberg
Creative Commons/alex-s
Creative Commons/Annie Mole
Creative Commons/Sue Richards
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Creative Commons/jurvetson
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