A talk given by Judith Townend at Northampton University on 7 March 2013, at 'Imagine Journalism in 10 Years' time' conference

1. From ‘news cycle’ to
‘news spirograph’:
Disrupting patterns of consumption,
production and distribution
Judith Townend, Centre for Law, Justice
and Journalism, City University London
(@jtownend)

2. Credit: Lorenz Lachauer /
eat-a-bug.blogspot.co.uk

3. Spirographs on sale, Istanbul, 2009

4. The ‘news spirograph’
"The new picture of a news story’s life cycle
looks less like a tight loop that closes after 24
hours. Instead, it enters a period of dormancy
only to return weeks later. The resulting chart of
a story’s attention trajectory looks more like a
Spirograph — a large circular pattern
constructed out of smaller loops."
Mike Taylor, Fishbowl NY, Media Bistro (2010)

5. Changes to the news cycle?
Similarly, Sophie Brendel, head of digital communications for the BBC has said:
‘Social media have changed what we talk about, who we talk about and how
quickly we talk. The 24-hour news cycle is dead, now it's 24 seconds.’ (Magee,
2012)

6. The ‘news spirograph’ can take different forms
More spirograph patterns on Flickr.

7. Public participation
Everyone has the right to freedom of expression.
This right shall include freedom to hold opinions
and to receive and impart information and ideas
without interference by public authority and
regardless of frontiers.
Clause 1, Article 10, Human Rights Act 1998

8. The ‘news spirograph’
The pattern of journalism in ten years’ time may
include a news cycle that looks very different from a
neat 24 hour loop, with its small number of
influential media sources.
Instead, changes in digital consumption, production
and distribution may transform it into a ‘news
spirograph’, with a greater number of sources, and
news stories that loop back at different points in
time.
In fact, we are likely to see transformation in the
very notion of the ‘news story’… It’s already
evolving.

9. As it was / is ….
1. Write newspaper
2. Print newspaper
3. Wrap fish‘n'chips in newspaper
Slides from a talk by Martin Belam, 2011

10. As it was / is ….
1. Write newspaper
2. Print newspaper
3. Wrap fish‘n'chips in newspaper
Slides from a talk by Martin Belam, 2011
As it could be… 1. Produce content, drawing from more
sources and across more topics
2. Publish on digital platforms,
selectively and carefully with effective
curation, labelling and contextulisation
3. See content gain new lease of
life and inform future content

11. References
• Belam, M. (2011) ‘How digital transformed the news
cycle’, currybet.net
• Belam, M. (2012) ‘The Guardian’s Facebook app’,
currybet.net
• Magee, K. (2012) ‘Beyond the 24 hr news cycle’, PR
Week
• Taylor, M. (2010) ‘The 24-Hour News Spirograph’,
Fishbowl NY, MediaBistro.com
• Tinworth, A. (2009) Our Real Problem: The Death of
the News Package, Onemanandhisblog.com.
• Wynne-Jones, R. (2012) ‘Enquirer: watching the hacks
get hacked’, Guardian.co.uk.