Ten reasons why journalism has a bright future
Recently there has been a lot of controversy about the future of newspapers, television and radio - about the future of journalism itself - in the light of the radical changes brought about by technology and the Internet. I asked the readers of this blog MediaShift what they thought: is the metaphorical goblet of journalism half empty or half full? So, most are confident that we have a pretty bright future ahead.
As you can understand, I share their enthusiasm. I would not have run this blog if I did not believe that the situation is changing for the better. But I am an inveterate realist and innate skeptic, so I see months and even years of suffering ahead for (diminishing?) People working in traditional media. Not everything new will be good, and we will face many ethical and technological traps.
But instead of dwelling on negatives, scolding changes and cursing sites that quickly achieved success like Google and Craigslist, I would like to go to the bright side and talk about new media, about positive aspects of what is happening and how we can achieve a revival of journalism. . The most difficult will be the adaptation to change for large media companies, but they can learn a lot from the example of successful business models of small media projects, such as TMZ and The Smoking Gun (both, by the way, belong to media holdings).
TEN REASONS, WHY JOURNALISM HAS A BRIGHT FUTURE
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1. More access to works of journalism around the world. One of the advantages of the Internet is that it gives access to the content of newspapers, TV channels, blogs and podcasts from around the world. World news sources are no longer limited to local media. Now we can go directly to the farthest corner of the world and get the news from a completely different angle. No one has yet figured out how to effectively sell relevant advertising to an international audience, but this does not mean that an effective model will not be found sooner or later.
2. Aggregation and personalization like readers. Tired of programming [available in the media program go - approx. per.], we are happy to use online tools for creating personal programs. Either in Google News, or through the use of My Yahoo personalization, or through an RSS reader, we can get quick access to fresh journalistic content that we like on one page. Some newspaper publishers are opposed to Google News, but most of them still find ways to aggregate content from other sources and to create personalized versions of sites (see mywashingtonpost.com ). There is a more effective way to do journalism than to just say “you can find all the answers here”.
3. Digital delivery provides more opportunities to reach people. Before the advent of the web, traditional media offered only one way to deliver content — in print, by watching TV or listening to the radio. Now you can get their content online, by email, on your mobile phone and in any other way suitable for transmitting bits and bytes. This is how journalism got rid of the shackles of the traditional format.
4. More fact checking than ever in the history of journalism. Maybe a really professional fact check has suffered greatly as a result of downsizing in the major media, but it’s also true that bloggers and free minds online provide reportages with a decent check of facts and balance. They may smack in the comments or have political prejudices, but they instantly signal a weak disclosure of the topic, plagiarism or fake sources - this is excellent for journalists and for readers.
5. Joint research with the participation of professional journalists and amateurs. The Internet allows for spontaneous investigations with the participation of professional reporters and amateur detectives. Recently, as part of the project, The Sunlight Foundation provided readers with special search tools so that they can check which members of the US Congress have employed their wives . Readers grind a mountain of information and found the same fried facts. The Los Angeles Times newspaper used the help of amateur detectives to uncover the LonelyGirl15 hype on Youtube [see article on Habré on this topic - approx. trans.]. Much more such joint investigations are made possible by simple online communication and experimentation like NewAssignment.net .
6. More votes in the stream of news. In the past, if you wanted to convey to people your opinion, correct someone else's error, or make your own report, then you had to get a job at one of the main news organizations. Now, thanks to the growing influence of independent bloggers and online journalists, there are more ordinary people and experts who express their opinions in the news stream. This not only means a greater variety of points of view, but also removes the problem of centralized programming of news topics.
7. More sincerity and informal tone. Thanks to blogs and an unlimited amount of web pages, reporters can explain in detail what conflicts they have of interest in a given situation, which leads to greater transparency and sincerity in relations with readers. In addition, online texts always have a more informal, personal style that gives reporters, reporters and editors a chance to write more humanely and establish a closer connection with the audience.
8. The growing flow of online advertising. Although representatives of the old media complain that online advertising does not bring enough revenue to compensate for their offline losses, this does not mean that everything is already lost. Almost every prediction of online advertising has tens of percent growth over the next five years , and it’s hard to believe that the media companies won't get any of this. What can really happen is a decrease in the concentration of large media, so more advertising money will go to smaller independent sites, and not to large conglomerates.
9. Going online is good for ecology. Few people take into account how our love for print newspapers and magazines is harmful to the environment. Of course, publishers are trying to use recycled paper, but switching to online media has a much stronger effect . Replacing paper with the Internet really saves trees, which, in turn, means that media companies will help fight global warming by their actions. Many hope that in the future some kind of universal electronic ink will be able to replace printing on dead trees.
10. Stories never end. I might. One of the weakest points of traditional journalism is that important topics rarely continue. This usually requires a professional reporter to return to the topic and briefly rewrite everything that was said earlier. But online stories can live much longer and in a variety of ways, so people can add to them in the comments or add more facts to the text as they appear. Wikinews is one example of UGC news that anyone can add or correct.
What do you think? What other reasons are there for a bright future for journalism? Or are you a techno-pessimist who thinks that professional journalists do not expect anything good?
As you can understand, I share their enthusiasm. I would not have run this blog if I did not believe that the situation is changing for the better. But I am an inveterate realist and innate skeptic, so I see months and even years of suffering ahead for (diminishing?) People working in traditional media. Not everything new will be good, and we will face many ethical and technological traps.
But instead of dwelling on negatives, scolding changes and cursing sites that quickly achieved success like Google and Craigslist, I would like to go to the bright side and talk about new media, about positive aspects of what is happening and how we can achieve a revival of journalism. . The most difficult will be the adaptation to change for large media companies, but they can learn a lot from the example of successful business models of small media projects, such as TMZ and The Smoking Gun (both, by the way, belong to media holdings).
TEN REASONS, WHY JOURNALISM HAS A BRIGHT FUTURE
')
1. More access to works of journalism around the world. One of the advantages of the Internet is that it gives access to the content of newspapers, TV channels, blogs and podcasts from around the world. World news sources are no longer limited to local media. Now we can go directly to the farthest corner of the world and get the news from a completely different angle. No one has yet figured out how to effectively sell relevant advertising to an international audience, but this does not mean that an effective model will not be found sooner or later.
2. Aggregation and personalization like readers. Tired of programming [available in the media program go - approx. per.], we are happy to use online tools for creating personal programs. Either in Google News, or through the use of My Yahoo personalization, or through an RSS reader, we can get quick access to fresh journalistic content that we like on one page. Some newspaper publishers are opposed to Google News, but most of them still find ways to aggregate content from other sources and to create personalized versions of sites (see mywashingtonpost.com ). There is a more effective way to do journalism than to just say “you can find all the answers here”.
3. Digital delivery provides more opportunities to reach people. Before the advent of the web, traditional media offered only one way to deliver content — in print, by watching TV or listening to the radio. Now you can get their content online, by email, on your mobile phone and in any other way suitable for transmitting bits and bytes. This is how journalism got rid of the shackles of the traditional format.
4. More fact checking than ever in the history of journalism. Maybe a really professional fact check has suffered greatly as a result of downsizing in the major media, but it’s also true that bloggers and free minds online provide reportages with a decent check of facts and balance. They may smack in the comments or have political prejudices, but they instantly signal a weak disclosure of the topic, plagiarism or fake sources - this is excellent for journalists and for readers.
5. Joint research with the participation of professional journalists and amateurs. The Internet allows for spontaneous investigations with the participation of professional reporters and amateur detectives. Recently, as part of the project, The Sunlight Foundation provided readers with special search tools so that they can check which members of the US Congress have employed their wives . Readers grind a mountain of information and found the same fried facts. The Los Angeles Times newspaper used the help of amateur detectives to uncover the LonelyGirl15 hype on Youtube [see article on Habré on this topic - approx. trans.]. Much more such joint investigations are made possible by simple online communication and experimentation like NewAssignment.net .
6. More votes in the stream of news. In the past, if you wanted to convey to people your opinion, correct someone else's error, or make your own report, then you had to get a job at one of the main news organizations. Now, thanks to the growing influence of independent bloggers and online journalists, there are more ordinary people and experts who express their opinions in the news stream. This not only means a greater variety of points of view, but also removes the problem of centralized programming of news topics.
7. More sincerity and informal tone. Thanks to blogs and an unlimited amount of web pages, reporters can explain in detail what conflicts they have of interest in a given situation, which leads to greater transparency and sincerity in relations with readers. In addition, online texts always have a more informal, personal style that gives reporters, reporters and editors a chance to write more humanely and establish a closer connection with the audience.
8. The growing flow of online advertising. Although representatives of the old media complain that online advertising does not bring enough revenue to compensate for their offline losses, this does not mean that everything is already lost. Almost every prediction of online advertising has tens of percent growth over the next five years , and it’s hard to believe that the media companies won't get any of this. What can really happen is a decrease in the concentration of large media, so more advertising money will go to smaller independent sites, and not to large conglomerates.
9. Going online is good for ecology. Few people take into account how our love for print newspapers and magazines is harmful to the environment. Of course, publishers are trying to use recycled paper, but switching to online media has a much stronger effect . Replacing paper with the Internet really saves trees, which, in turn, means that media companies will help fight global warming by their actions. Many hope that in the future some kind of universal electronic ink will be able to replace printing on dead trees.
10. Stories never end. I might. One of the weakest points of traditional journalism is that important topics rarely continue. This usually requires a professional reporter to return to the topic and briefly rewrite everything that was said earlier. But online stories can live much longer and in a variety of ways, so people can add to them in the comments or add more facts to the text as they appear. Wikinews is one example of UGC news that anyone can add or correct.
What do you think? What other reasons are there for a bright future for journalism? Or are you a techno-pessimist who thinks that professional journalists do not expect anything good?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/288088/
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