Not once in David Carr’s piece did the publisher of the triCityNews, Dan Jacobson, mention content, journalism, journalistic mission or serving readers. Instead, he talks about how “I don’t want anything that detracts from the paper and the presence of those big, beautiful full-page ads” and “business sense” and “running lean” and keeping advertisers happy.
All that’s great, but you would think that someone who started a “newspaper” startup less than 10 years ago, would talk about his love of journalism or how his newspaper is serving the community better. You know, the reasons that all of us got into journalism. Maybe this is Carr’s fault for not choosing one quote that relates to journalism, but Dash concludes:
That’s not to say Jacobson doesn’t value journalism. It’s just that it’s absolutely clear that his priority is his advertisers. Thus, I submit that the triCityNews, while certainly a paper, is likely not a newspaper.
Making a profitable penny saver is a lot easier than making a real, profitable news operation that serves its community. It sounds like the triCityNews exists to be a pleasant place for local advertisers. It has lots of ad space that is surrounded by soft, friendly content.
Even Carr admits that the triCityNews is ”boosterish.” Maybe it even has some friendly content thrown in about frequent advertisers.
Good for the triCityNews for serving the advertisers of Ashbury Park. Nothing wrong with that. It’s just business.
But shame on Carr for not proving that the triCityNews serves its community well. Most people in a community aren’t advertisers, and they are served by quality editorial content. Maybe the triCityNews is a fantastic editorial product, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
It can’t be that hard to be profitable weekly with 3.5 full-time employees — of which at least 1.5 have nothing to do with editorial and another being a publisher with no journalism background or apparent love of journalism. It looks like the editorial content is mostly produced by some part-time columnists and the executive editor.
For a real eye opener, Dash puts all of Jacobson’s quotes together. Then judge for yourself whether Carr has founded an oasis in the newspaper industry or just a paper with a lots of ads.
With more journalists jumping on the social media bandwagon, it’s good to remind people that the key word in social media is social and not media.
Traditional journalists are used to a one-to-many publishing approach. They are used to being arbiters of what information gets disseminated. They are used to pushing information to people but not accepting it.
That’s fine for a print world. Print is a one-way medium. Nothing wrong with that.
But social media is really about being social. It means interacting with people. It means two-way communication. And it means journalists no longer control what and how information is disseminated.
Social media is not yet another place to push content onto. It’s not a repository for content from another medium. It’s its own medium.
It deserves — no demands — its own content. Social media can be a great way to connect with users. It can also be a great way to build a network of sources.
Beat blogging is all about using social media, blogs and other Web tools to build a larger network of sources. Beat blogging is a give and take. It requires journalists who are willing to interact with people and provide users with a service.
Social media can really help journalists report better. I think it can help make our jobs easier. But only if we are social on social media.
I think many newsroom managers want their reporters to get on social media to help disseminate existing content. I also think many newsroom managers are just jumping on the bandwagon to help save their careers (they hear people talking about Twitter and decree that their employees need to get on it). But journalists and journalism would greatly benefit from people understanding how to best use social media before attempting to use it.
News organizations need to have concrete plans for what they hope to accomplish with social media. Once that’s established, they can then look at which tools make sense for their organizations and individual employees (I’d never recommend the same tools for all employees).
A news organization wouldn’t seriously get into blogging without a blogging editor to help journalists out. Nor should news organizations decree that employees get on social media without guidance and without at least one point person to guide them.
Some simple tips for news organizations who want to get on social media:
Form a concrete plan before attempting social media as a news organization. You have to be able to answer, “What do you hope to accomplish with social media?” If you can’t answer that, how will you know what to do with social media? You won’t.
Under no circumstances should you encourage employees to experiment with social media for work purposes without giving them clear guidelines as to what is and is not appropriate. Somebody will mess up.
Don’t force everyone onto social media. Not all employees will be good at it. It is what it is.
One size does not fit all. Twitter might make sense for one beat, while YouTube for another. Maybe Flickr would be great for your photo staff, but it may make a lot less sense for your cops reporter. This is where a plan comes in handy.
Ideally, you should have a social media editor (could be combined with the blog editor as both are social platforms). If you want social media to be an important part of what your news organization does, you should have someone in charge of your vision for social media. This person should observe what employees do, provide advice and be a go-to person for questions.
So, I have to ask: When this financial crisis is over, who will be left to rebuild journalism? Will there be enough talented journalists left to rebuild? Will the journalists left have the Web skills that journalism sorely needs?
Usually, we’d look to the next generation. We’d say that the future will bring in new, exciting ideas and fresh talent. First, most j-schools follow the industry, not lead it. They are filled with more curmudgeons and technophobes than most newspapers.
The other major problem I see is that many of our most talented would-be journalists are switching majors and planning on entering other careers. And many of the young talent that did work in news organizations left before they ever had a chance to get into a position of power to make significant change.
The future is beyond bleak for U.S. newspapers. The future of journalism is still up for grabs. There will be , however, many innovative journalism startups in the next five years.
But will there be enough startups and enough talented, modern journalists to replace all that we are losing today?
Don’t believe me? Spend a few hours following knowledgeable people (creating a good network is the key to success on Twitter).
Ask a question. See the responses you get. I started a podcast at BeatBlogging.Org a few months ago, and before I started, I asked my Twitter followers for advice.
What’s the best way to cheaply interview people around the country? What’s good recording software? Where should I host my podcast?
I got lots of suggestions. Twitter allowed me to start my podcast in no time, and I got good advice on what to try and what to avoid. Because of this, BeatBlogging.Org hit the ground running with a great podcast.
My Twitter community (everyone’s is different) is always helping me by answering questions and posting informative links. It makes my life and job so much easier.
The level of noise in your Twitter feed is directly related to who you choose to follow. It’s not personal. It’s Twitter.
Tweet informative links. Start conversations on Twitter. Respond to people when they ask questions.
Twitter is ultimately all about community. The quality of your Twitter community depends on whether or not you really want to be a part of a community. If you only use Twitter for marketing of content that you create elsewhere, you’ll lose out on a lot of what Twitter is really all about.
I would encourage all journalists to get on Twitter. Trust me, you’ll learn a lot.
Journalism is at the beginning of a tectonic shift and massive upheaval, and yet, I consider this to be an incredibly exciting time to be in journalism.
We stand on the doorstep of history. We’re watching the reinvention of a critical industry. This is not an evolution — we are a part of a revolution.
And that’s why I’m afraid. I know that journalism will be stronger than ever in 20 years, but what will tomorrow hold? The journey through revolution will claim many careers.
Will my friends have a job? Will I have a job? Will I recognize the new journalism industry that emerges?
On one hand it’s exciting to be a part of something bigger than all of us, and yet, I wonder if I’ll be able to pay my bills. No job lasts forever.
I mean no hyperbole when I call 2009 the year of the newspaper massacre. 2008’s losses will seem quaint by midway through next year. Everything we’ve ever known about newspapers will begin to fade.
If newspapers hope to survive these lean times, they must shed all remaining luddites and curmudgeons. Every employee will have to be a technologist. Newspapers can no longer afford to employ people who stand in the way of the future — in the way of progress.
If newspapers are to survive, their future will be radically different. That’s going to require radically different staffing. It’s going to require radically different thinking.
It’s a terribly depressing time to seek employment in this embattled industry. But it’s an incredibly exciting time to be developing new forms of journalism. If my thoughts sometimes seem contradictory, it’s because I’m conflicted.
No one ever said revolution would be easy. But it’s our duty. Our mission. Our calling.
If you consider journalism a calling, it’s time to take up arms and begin an assault on the old ways of thinking. Doing things the old way has suddenly become the wrong way.
We’re free falling off a precipice. The only way to land on our feet is to do some serious thinking and reinventing during our fall.
It encourages journalists to try to get people to buy a newspaper again. Not by producing a better or a more relevant product mind you, but by badgering people to buy a product that they no longer find valuable.
The official logo for this group is a drawing of an old-time newspaper boy with the slogan, “Save a journalist buy a newspaper.” Listen, plenty of journalists don’t work for newspapers, and most people want their journalism in another format than a newspaper.
Newspapers aren’t charities. In fact, many newspapers companies enjoyed gigantic profits for years. Instead of reinvesting those profits in R&D and focusing on the future, newspaper companies squandered it all. Most newspapers operated as monopolies for years.
Are the people joining this group on Facebook (which is officially listed as “cause” that people can donate money to), also going to donate money to Microsoft one day if it falters and looks like it is falling under? After all, it was a one-time monopoly with astronomical profits.
The last reason this group is ridiculous (and shows that many journalists don’t get even understand the business they are in) is that most newspapers lose money on each newspaper sold. That is to say that printing and distribution costs outstrip the gains from subscription and newsstand sales. The vast majority of newspapers make their money on advertising (The Christian Science Monitor is a notable exception).
Advertisers have been fleeing newspapers for year. Now we’re in a global financial crisis. Companies naturally have to cut back on advertising. Unless newspapers substantially raise the cost of a single newspaper (always a hit in bad economic times), selling more newspapers won’t help. There just aren’t enough advertising dollars to go around right now.
I’m glad to support real non-profits like David Cohn’s Spot.Us. I think the non-profit model for future Web journalism can work in certain instances. But newspapers aren’t charities. Almost all are for-profit businesses that should have been leaders in online journalism.
This is the start of a new series on the JI where I discuss tips on how to blog. These will usually be short, down-and-dirty tips.
If you’ve just started a blog, you’re probably wondering, “how do I get people to read my blog?”
Sure, you can tell your friends and colleagues about it. You can e-mail prominent bloggers and ask them to mention your new blog or to add you to their blogroll. You can post about your new blog on Twitter and Facebook.
All fine, but if you really want your blog to get noticed (especially if it’s an independent blog), you need to join the community. If you’re blogging about journalism, start mixing it up on other journalism blogs.
When I first started blogging, I went out and found the top journalism bloggers, read their blogs and started interacting with them. Every time I left a comment, I made sure to leave my real name and my blog address. Most blog commenting systems ask for a user to leave their name, e-mail address and URL, if applicable.
So, when I leave a comment on Mindy McAdam’s fabulous Teaching Online Journalism blog my name shows up and my name is a link back to my blog. People who find my comments thoughtful or who want to learn more about me will click on my name. This started sending my blog traffic and still does.
This also started getting my name and my blog’s name out there. How are people supposed to find my blog otherwise? Grass roots marketing is the best way to build a following.
If you have a blog and you post under an alias like “longtime journalist,” you’re making a huge mistake. Use your real name every time you post on a blog or other relevant Web site. Link back to your site.
Get that Google juice working. This advice primarily applies to when you are interacting within your own online community, but won’t hurt when you post on other sites either (as long as you don’t leave flame bait all other the Internet). I’m active in the journalism blogging community, and I always use my real name when I post comments in the community.
Keep in mind that some of the best marketing you could ever do for your blog is to go to other blogs and Web sites that are in the community you want to join and start posting under your real name with a link back to your blog. This may seem so simple, but it really is a great way to drive traffic.
When you first start off, I would really try to leave comments on several blogs everyday. Leave thoughtful comments that add to the discussion. Respond to other users, leave links to interesting content you find on the Web and add something to the conversation.
Just remember, however, that this only applies to those who leave thoughtful comments. Stuff like, “Great post, check out my Web site!” does not fit the bill.
I cannot tell you or your news organization exactly what to do. There is no magic bullet that will save floundering news organizations. But I can tell you that the status quo will end in failure.
Innovation is ultimately what will save journalism. Innovation requires experimentation. Experimentation requires a willingness to fail.
But unlike the failure that the status quo will bring on, experimentation is a momentary feat of failure. It’s losing a battle, not the war. Doing nothing will cause us to lose the war.
Rather, each time we experiment and we fail, we must pick ourselves back up and try again. We must learn. And we must never gave up.
The path to salvation is littered with many pit falls. It’s a hard, winding road that will only reward the most dogged of journalists and innovators. But it is our only choice.
So, I ask you, what are you doing to innovate? How will you navigate that path to salvation?
David Cohn launched his new community-funded journalism project, Spot.Us, last week to much fan fare.
I don’t know whether or not it can save journalism or if it will fail. My guess is on somewhere in the middle. It will probably be a viable way to fund certain kinds of journalism in certain communities.
In many ways I find the future of journalism to be similar to the future of energy security in the U.S. There isn’t a magic energy bullet for the U.S. Instead, it will be a combination of new energy technologies to wean the U.S. off of foreign energy and hydrocarbons.
Funding journalism will be the same way. We’ll need a variety of ways to fund journalism moving forward. The monopolies of newspapers are done.
I applaud Cohn for tackling the real issue facing journalism — how to fund it. Cohn’s business model might not be the sexiest. No, he won’t become rich by doing non-profit work that is predicated on the altruism of individuals.
But I think it can work. NPR and PBS both rely on people’s contributions. But perhaps the most logical comparison is Kiva.org. Cohn has learned a lot of lessons from that successful micro-lending site.
Cohn and I talk about how he can harness some of the concepts of Kiva to keep his startup running for years to come.
Cohn and I discuss several topics:
Why Spot.Us? What need does it meet?
How will Spot.Us fund itself after its grant is over?
It’s not what journalism really needs. What journalism needs is a challenge to create local news startups with new business models — to make products that people care about again and that are sustainable without subsidies.
Now, that’s a challenge. And instead of this being grant funded, it should be venture capital backed. And the VCs would only fund ideas and people (this is what VCs really fund) that they think have a chance of making money.
The Knight News Challenge is a great idea, and I love it. Heck, I even applied this year. But it’s focus is more on altruism and developing news tools to help journalism and society. That’s a laudable goal, and it will help make this world a better place.
But the Knight News Challenge doesn’t address a mission critical part of journalism — making money. Journalism has always been a business. It always will be.
The Knight News Challenge doesn’t care if the projects it funds make money or are even successful. That’s not the goal of the challenge. That’s why we need a challenge based on making new, sustainable businesses that people care about.
Together, the Knight News Challenge and this new VC-backed challenge could really change the face of journalism for years to come.