Message From Michael 
March 1, 2010
THE YIN AND YANG OF NEWS
THE DIGITAL DILEMMA
TRUSTWORTHINESS AND TRUTHINESS
PERIL AND PROMISE
ACCOUNTABILITY JOURNALISM
PARENTAL DISCRETION ADVISED
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THE YIN AND YANG OF NEWS: An announcement by ABC News president David Westin that 300 to 400 jobs are being cut out of the 1,400 jobs in the news division, which follows an earlier announcement by CBS News of a six percent cutback in newsroom staffing. An announcement by AOL CEO Tim Armstrong of job cuts there after the spin-off from Time Warner but that none of the more than 500 journalists employed in the AOL newsroom will be affected. A survey by the Society for New Communications Research showing a dramatic jump in only a year in the percentage of journalists using social media tools in their reporting. An announcement by The New York Times that it is partnering with New York University professors and students to launch a hyper-local news site covering the East Village. A study by GfK Roper and commissioned by PBS shows more people trust public television (45%) than any other news operation or even the courts and Congress. A study by comScore on behalf of the Newspaper Association of America showing that newspaper websites are the most visited and most trusted source of online local news with more than half (57%) saying newspaper websites are their number one destination for local information. And, the final twang in the yin and yang – the Federal Communication Commission has extended its deadline for public comment on its upcoming report on the future of the news media from March to May.
The traditional definition of Yin and Yang is of complementary opposites, but this tenet of Chinese philosophy is more complicated than that, positing that (to cite Wikipedia) “seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent… and give rise to each other in turn.” I’m not sure that definition applies to what is happening to news media, any more than the concept of disruptive technology xplains what is happening, but it gives you something to think about. Some more things to think about --
THE DIGITAL DILEMMA: In his memo to the news staff, News president Westin says the digital age has created a ‘revolution’ in the ways people get their news and information, making the business more competitive but also, he says, providing opportunities in how they gather, produce and distribute news. That translates to more ‘digital journalists’, as he terms them – also known as one-man bands, video journalists, backpack journalists. He says there will be extensive training in the ‘new technology’ along with combining of staffs, more use of freelancers and eliminating ‘redundancies’ as they undergo what he calls a “fundamental transformation” – to create (the key quote) “a business model that ensures we will be here for our audiences for many years to come.” It’s an interesting idea (at least to me) that you could do a Google Street View sweep from the one end of Manhattan where Westin was talking to the other end of Manhattan where AOL’s Armstrong was sitting, and you would find the yang of the digital dilemma – pages and pages of Web data tacked to the walls of the AOL newsroom. As reported by Business Week, the folks at AOL use the data to tell their journalists “how well their articles are performing.” The folks at AOL are using the software to determine which articles to write based on the amount of Web traffic they generate. In addition to the 500 journalists, AOL employs 3,000 freelancers who work in a virtual environment, interacting remotely using chat and providing stories through a process called “Seed” in which they’re paid to write stories on topics that have proven popular. Two examples cited in the BusinessWeek article were how to open champagne and best tips for packing. Staffers whose work fetches the most views may even get to share in the profits because, says Armstrong, (and here’s the quote that explains it all) – “audience growth and audience engagement have to be the things that we justify most, off of our journalist investments.”
TRUSTWORTHINESS AND TRUTHINESS: Take your pick. According to the Newspaper Association of America survey, local newspaper websites are deemed the most trustworthy by the public not only for news and information, sports and entertainment, but the all important – online advertising. Local newspaper websites just barely beat out local television websites (34% to 32%) when it came to news, but when it came to local information, newspaper websites trumped local television websites by a wide margin (34% to 23%). It was the same for local sports (30% to 24%) and local entertainment (30% to 23%). But the figure that has newspaper publishers salivating is the margin when it came to local classifieds (43% vs. 13%). Of course, for a little perspective on this, as everybody knows, much of the classified advertising has migrated to major Websites like Yahoo and Craigslist. And for a little more perspective still, reporter Erik Sass notes in Media Daily News that online advertising still only accounts for 10% of newspapers’ total advertising revenue – “after a decade spent building online audiences and advertising programs.” The NAA meanwhile cites the statistics as proof of “newspapers’ successful multiplatform transition.” Meanwhile, the comScore survey for PBS shows that four times as many people (45%) trust PBS as opposed to newspaper publishing companies (11%) and five times as many as cable networks (9%). The percentage that trusts PBS “a great deal” is vastly larger (40%) than second place trustworthy Fox News Channel (29%) and third place CNN (27%) and, even more interesting; fourth place NPR (25%). Even more interesting (to me at least) NPR came in sixth (with 29%) when judged on the question are they “mostly fair” – well behind PBS (40%); but also behind NBC and ABC (33%), CBS (32%) and CNN (31%); but ahead of Fox (25%) and MSNBC (24%) In a somewhat similar vein of justifying the dollars, the PBS report notes that 80% of those surveyed believe money given to PBS by government, corporations and individuals is “money well spent.” And when asked the penetrating question whether the 15% of support PBS receives from the federal government which, the question notes, translates to one dollar per person per year, nearly half (46%) say it is too little.
PERIL AND PROMISE: That’s how one journalist described the impact of social media on the journalism profession in a survey by the Society for New Communication Research. The percentage of journalists using social networking sites has jumped by a quarter (to 70%) in only a year; there was another jump of a quarter in those using Twitter or other micro blogging sites (48%). Two thirds (66%) read blogs and four out of five (80%) say bloggers have become “important opinion-shapers.” The reported noted what it called “a striking disparity” in adoption rates and attitudes toward new communications tools and citizen journalism between the younger and older journalists; although despite this, most (91%) agreed that the new tools and technologies are enhancing journalism. Meanwhile, as noted earlier, the New York Times collaboration with NYU on a “
ACCOUNTABILITY JOURNALISM: No, I have no idea what that term is supposed to mean. Steven Waldman who is heading up the Federal Communication Commission’s study into the future of journalism used it to talk about the “collapse” of traditional business models which he says could bring about “the end of accountability journalism.” Broadcast lawyer and blogger David Oxenford probably has as good a guess as anyone when he says it probably refers to “journalistic sources with some degree of accountability and reliability.” In a surprise appearance at the end of one of the FCC’s open meetings, Waldman went into greater detail about the study’s goal to ‘make sure that communities get the information that they need.’ He said the study will look at all the ways citizens and communities get information and which parts of the population are most at risk of losing their sources of information because of that collapse. It is probably indicative of the controversy surrounding the inquiry that one FCC commissioner (Copps) called it central to the needs of the country while another commissioner (McDowell) questioned whether any government action is necessary at all. Waldman makes the point that in the digital era “news and information” isn’t just journalism but all information consumers get from all sources about schools, crime, public health, natural disasters “or other issues that affect them dearly.” And he says the starting point for the inquiry is the First Amendment because “a free press, independent of government control, is a foundational principle of our democracy.” He urges people to join in the discussion because “you and your families have a direct stake.” If you want to join in the discussion (in the two months left), go to website http://reboot.fcc.gov/futureofmedia.
PARENTAL DISCRETION ADVISED: As the headline implies, this is not a section for the sensitive. But in keeping with my never-ending question to keep you abreast of the latest trends and cutting edge developments, here are two R-rated websites you should know about… and maybe visit. But remember the warning. The first is shitmydadsays.tumblr.com. It is a twitter site by a 28-year-old who moved back into his 74-year-old father’s house. Pearls of wisdom range from, (quote) “I hate paying bills… son, don’t say ‘me too.’ I didn’t say that looking to relate to you. I said it instead of ‘go away.’ Or, (quote) “Son, no one gives a shit about all the things your cell phone does. You didn’t invent it. You just bought it. Anybody can do that.” Here’s the kicker – CBS has hired William Shatner to do a TV pilot based on the twitters. And, no, I’m not making that up. It strikes me that it’s sort of like the old sitcom Sanford and Son, except with Redd Foxx using some of the salty language he used in his stage performances. The other website is chatroulette.com, which is a random video conferencing site which links you to strangers around the world… sometimes weird, sometimes pornographic, sometimes interesting. Trust me; you’re going to be hearing a lot about this one. Some are calling it the ‘next Twitter.’
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