In the changing media landscape, a consistent theme is of the jilted editor, the gatekeeper who can no longer gate-keep.
I appreciate the example of the consolidation of the Tampa Bay Tribune, Tampa Bay Online, and the WFLA broadcast news outlet. It only makes sense that reporting the news becomes a team effort, with the news consumer being another arm of the team.
Giving space to the public not only gets the consumer involved, but it also saves money: The Contributor is not paid.
If anything, news is becoming de-compartmentalized and more open. The workflow is open. As reporters take on learning more media, they also learn that the public itself can become part of the media, another way to farm information.
The public consuming only a lopsided point of view is problematic, but completely understandable, as I listen to National Public Radio (NPR), a decidedly liberal news source. It makes sense that someone will always be needed to sort and package the news.
I never thought about the aging newspaper demographic. I believe that tying in people 18-30 can be done by harnessing their natural ability to communicate through digital online media.
How to de-fragment the viewers? Could a paper publish specialized sections the way the community paper is in certain Sunday papers? Could you subscribe to the Sunday paper, and add a thicker music section? Possibly. Or link to online for coupons.
Although newspapers declining is sad, a 15 percent profit margin while still reaching half of all adults in the U.S. is positive, and I think the industry needs to move deliberately to direct the public's interest back to newspapers and hold the line at half, and then figure out how to grow.
I appreciate the example of the consolidation of the Tampa Bay Tribune, Tampa Bay Online, and the WFLA broadcast news outlet. It only makes sense that reporting the news becomes a team effort, with the news consumer being another arm of the team.
Giving space to the public not only gets the consumer involved, but it also saves money: The Contributor is not paid.
If anything, news is becoming de-compartmentalized and more open. The workflow is open. As reporters take on learning more media, they also learn that the public itself can become part of the media, another way to farm information.
The public consuming only a lopsided point of view is problematic, but completely understandable, as I listen to National Public Radio (NPR), a decidedly liberal news source. It makes sense that someone will always be needed to sort and package the news.
I never thought about the aging newspaper demographic. I believe that tying in people 18-30 can be done by harnessing their natural ability to communicate through digital online media.
How to de-fragment the viewers? Could a paper publish specialized sections the way the community paper is in certain Sunday papers? Could you subscribe to the Sunday paper, and add a thicker music section? Possibly. Or link to online for coupons.
Although newspapers declining is sad, a 15 percent profit margin while still reaching half of all adults in the U.S. is positive, and I think the industry needs to move deliberately to direct the public's interest back to newspapers and hold the line at half, and then figure out how to grow.
Growing pains are ahead.
In an example of convergence, the bottom pic ran on MLIVE.com, while the upper shot ran in the community paper insert.
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