Jul 14, 2006 13:29
The death of news and the future of New New Media
Posted by babelmachine
No one becomes a journalist because he or she wants to be rich, but the grim reality is that these days news organizations all over the world are fighting for survival.
Not only must journalists live with the fact that they will always be relatively underpaid, now they must worry about job security and relevance in an age where the Web has created hundreds of thousands of reporters.
In the Philippines as well as across Asia, we've seen tech publications shut down in the face of economic difficulties. The latest casualty in the Philippines is the trade publication Philippine IT Update, which published its final issue on June 30.
A few years ago, the country's pioneering IT newspaper Metropolitan Computer Times ceased to exist. This publication will always be special to me because I got my start as a tech journalist writing for the flagship MCT newspaper and later PCWeek Philippines, which Computer Times Publishing licensed from Ziff Davis.
One of the ironies of IT journalism is that these IT trade publications ultimately became victims of their own success--their goal was to cover the fledgling Philippine computer industry and make even the layman aware of the importance of IT. As IT became more mainstream, the broadsheets started creating IT sections, which further popularized IT as the newspapers strove to make technology accessible to a broader audience. IT trade publications, however, now find it hard to get advertising support.
As Old Media clashes with New Media, we're faced with the reality that there's now actually what we could call New New Media. Online news publications, which are now benefiting from a wider readership and stepping out of the shadow of Old Media, must today contend with a growing disenchantment by Internet users with mainstream media.
The reality we have to face as journalists is that a growing number of Internet users do not go to news sites, newspapers, TV or radio for information. They're more likely to rely on blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds, and social networking sites such as Digg. In their eyes, online publications are so Web 1.0, even though a number of news sites are reinventing themselves and integrating Web 2.0 tools in the news process.
I find myself in an interesting position because while I'm a blogger, I'm also a journalist who works for the world's leading Philippine mainstream media site, INQ7.net.
One of the most important issues that we in the media have to face is how to resist the pressure and refuse to compromise editorial integrity, as publications become desperate due to dwindling readership.
The more frightening question for mainstream media, however, is whether today's Internet users actually want news anymore. Do we really want objectivity? Do we have time to hear all sides of a debate?
While we often praise the Internet for giving us more choices and making information more accessible, the other side of the coin is that it has also given us the power to only listen to the news we want. You can talk about the liberating effects of personalization, customization, Web 2.0 and so forth, but the problem is we might now actually be less open-minded.
The danger is we might be filtering out any content we don't agree with, or any information that doesn't interest us. I'm not saying this is the inevitable result, but this is a tendency we have to recognize.
In his article The extinction of mass culture, Fortune senior writer Marc Gunther writes:
I believe that while mainstream media must reinvent itself and innovate, it must embrace change without forgetting the basics of good journalism. News organizations must adapt technology to the news process, not sacrifice news for the sake of technology.
Many Internet users may no longer trust mainstream media, just as the decades have seen the erosion of respect for other institutions. This does not mean, however, that we must abandon objectivity. It may be hard, even impossible to achieve, but that doesn't mean we should stop trying.
At the end of the day, the challenge is for journalists to earn their credibility--and for more Internet users to realize that they need the news they don't want to hear.
Not only must journalists live with the fact that they will always be relatively underpaid, now they must worry about job security and relevance in an age where the Web has created hundreds of thousands of reporters.
In the Philippines as well as across Asia, we've seen tech publications shut down in the face of economic difficulties. The latest casualty in the Philippines is the trade publication Philippine IT Update, which published its final issue on June 30.
A few years ago, the country's pioneering IT newspaper Metropolitan Computer Times ceased to exist. This publication will always be special to me because I got my start as a tech journalist writing for the flagship MCT newspaper and later PCWeek Philippines, which Computer Times Publishing licensed from Ziff Davis.
One of the ironies of IT journalism is that these IT trade publications ultimately became victims of their own success--their goal was to cover the fledgling Philippine computer industry and make even the layman aware of the importance of IT. As IT became more mainstream, the broadsheets started creating IT sections, which further popularized IT as the newspapers strove to make technology accessible to a broader audience. IT trade publications, however, now find it hard to get advertising support.
As Old Media clashes with New Media, we're faced with the reality that there's now actually what we could call New New Media. Online news publications, which are now benefiting from a wider readership and stepping out of the shadow of Old Media, must today contend with a growing disenchantment by Internet users with mainstream media.
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| Does the future belong to TV or video blogs like the popular Rocketboom? Rocketboom has been in the mainstream news lately due to the controversy over the departure of popular host Amanda Congdon. This screenshot shows the debut on July 12 of new host Joanne Colan. |
The reality we have to face as journalists is that a growing number of Internet users do not go to news sites, newspapers, TV or radio for information. They're more likely to rely on blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds, and social networking sites such as Digg. In their eyes, online publications are so Web 1.0, even though a number of news sites are reinventing themselves and integrating Web 2.0 tools in the news process.
I find myself in an interesting position because while I'm a blogger, I'm also a journalist who works for the world's leading Philippine mainstream media site, INQ7.net.
One of the most important issues that we in the media have to face is how to resist the pressure and refuse to compromise editorial integrity, as publications become desperate due to dwindling readership.
The more frightening question for mainstream media, however, is whether today's Internet users actually want news anymore. Do we really want objectivity? Do we have time to hear all sides of a debate?
While we often praise the Internet for giving us more choices and making information more accessible, the other side of the coin is that it has also given us the power to only listen to the news we want. You can talk about the liberating effects of personalization, customization, Web 2.0 and so forth, but the problem is we might now actually be less open-minded.
The danger is we might be filtering out any content we don't agree with, or any information that doesn't interest us. I'm not saying this is the inevitable result, but this is a tendency we have to recognize.
In his article The extinction of mass culture, Fortune senior writer Marc Gunther writes:
I think the explosion of choice has left us poorer in at least two arenas. The first is journalism. (Yes, as a Fortune writer, I've got a stake in the health of the mainstream media, which bloggers call the MSM.) The network evening newscasts, big-city newspapers and the national news magazines once had the money, access, skills, commitment and power to deliver lots of original reporting and put important issues on the national agenda. Today, they are all diminished...
... The second arena where we are worse off is politics. This is related to journalism, as the moderate and responsible (okay, bland) voices of the MSM get drowned out by partisan, opinionated cableheads and bloggers.
Politics in America has become polarized for many reasons, but a big one is the fact that people can now filter the news and opinions they get to avoid exposure to ideas with which they disagree.
I believe that while mainstream media must reinvent itself and innovate, it must embrace change without forgetting the basics of good journalism. News organizations must adapt technology to the news process, not sacrifice news for the sake of technology.
Many Internet users may no longer trust mainstream media, just as the decades have seen the erosion of respect for other institutions. This does not mean, however, that we must abandon objectivity. It may be hard, even impossible to achieve, but that doesn't mean we should stop trying.
At the end of the day, the challenge is for journalists to earn their credibility--and for more Internet users to realize that they need the news they don't want to hear.
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