NY Times Columnist Sums Up the Year in Media

What kind of year was it for the media? Well, not all bad, according to "After a Year of Ruin, Some Hope," a media column by David Carr in the New York Times.

Some highlights:

• Bloggers are getting serious, breaking stories and showing that good journalism isn't the sole domain of "old media"
• Technology-fueled media start-ups are showing the way to "media next"
• TV is far from dead when you consider breakthrough hits such as "Mad Men" and "Glee"
• Dave Eggers and his friends print ... a Newspaper!

Adds Carr:

... The constellation of local news sites put together by ex-newspaper folks include the big and well-financed like Texas Tribune (www.texastribune.org), the small and charming like Baltimore Brew (baltimorebrew.com) and some experiments that seem less tentative all the time, like MinnPost (www.minnpost.com) and Voice of San Diego (www.voiceofsandiego.org).

It’s a reminder that journalists will do anything to avoid getting real jobs, including conjuring a new kind of workplace that doesn’t include any of the legacy costs of trucks and printing presses.

Bring on 2010.

Updated ... See also:

• Jason Linkins on "Ten Things That Did Not Suck About the Media in 2009"
• JL on "Ten Things That Totally Sucked About the Media in 2009"

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Photo credit: "Cover of the Last Edition of the Rocky Mountain News" by Scorpions and Centaurs, courtesy of Flickr.com/Creative Commons

On Newspapers: Looking Back and Ahead

In his final column for Editor & Publisher, Steve Outing takes a trip into newspapers' recent past and offers some predictions for the industry's future. As he notes, hindsight is always 20/20. Nevertheless, it's interesting to explore what newspapers might have done to head off the calamity they face today and the future that some still may achieve.

As much as I have loved newspapers, since the Web came along in late 1993, it hasn't been the paper, per se, that I loved -- but rather the type of journalism that newspaper companies were able to produce. While far from perfect, newspapers were able to afford the big editorial staffs, which other media forms could not, to cover their communities well and (often) uncover mistakes, corruption and wrongdoing by government and business.

Unfortunately, he notes, newspaper executives failed to see the transition to digital technology and early on could have explored Internet businesses to complement their news-gathering operations, including developing mobile and other platforms for delivering news content. Lord knows they had the money to spend, and spend they did -- on other "old" media properties instead of looking ahead.

"Ahh, that sounds so simple," he concludes. "If only someone had created a time machine in the mid-1990s, then comic-strip artists and late-night comics wouldn't be making fun of newspapers as today's buggy-whip makers."

Outing sees a variety of scenarios for the future of newspapers, ranging from small independently owned operations that can succeed in print (for a little while) to larger operations collaborating with independent journalists, bloggers and news aggregators.

Newspaper companies that do survive and prosper do so by devoting significant resources (at executive and technical levels) to mobile as the next platform of opportunity. They don't repeat the mistakes of a decade earlier made with the Web, but instead raise mobile to a top priority. ... Newspapers that do well adapt quickly to the instant nature of crowd-sourced news (e.g., aggregating and filtering eyewitness reports from Twitter), rather than fight it.

The newspapers that will succeed are those that go on the offensive, innovating and experimenting with new platforms and news-gathering models.

It's an interesting read.

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Photo credit: "Jumbo Multi-wheat Krispies + New York Times on the Kindle" by inju, courtesy of Flickr.com/Creative Commons

Ode to Newspaper Press Crews One and All

It's hard not to reminisce about the "good old days" when you worked at a newspaper for more than 20 years. Many of the memories and feelings I fondly retain from my "newspapering" career came flooding back in reading Ken Steinhoff's ode to The Palm Beach Post.

A former photographer at The Post, Steinhoff recalls the "glory days" and uses his camera to chronicle the last days of the newspaper's production department, which it has since farmed out to another publication as a cost-cutting move.

It's sad to think how often this process has been repeated recently in newspapers across the nation. I'm glad that Steinhoff took the time to preserve in pictures the work of the dedicated backshop crew members who always made our work in the newsroom stand out for our customers.

My eternal gratitude goes to the folks of the press and production departments of the Corvallis Gazette-Times and Albany Democrat-Herald, including Dale J., Dave P., Don S., Mike V., Wally J., Ken W., Bob J. ...

See also:

• Videos on the demise of the Seattle P-I and Rocky Mountain News.
• Veneta, Junction City papers shut down

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Bankrupt Newspapers Get Golden Opportunity

New media guy Jeff Jarvis puts forth an interesting proposition: Bankrupt newspaper companies should use their bleak financial condition as an opportunity to take a bold step into the future. Ditch the presses and all the rest of their "old media" overhead and become entrepreneurial, going all-in online and better serving readers:

Bankruptcy enables a newspaper company to shed its past. It can get out of contracts and leases for paper, printing plants, delivery, trucks. ... It offers a one-time chance to rethink, reinvent, and rebuild the company for the future. Is it better to stretch out the pain and never get anywhere? And if tough decisions and actions are not made, the likelihood that the company will die and all will be lost only increases.

It's like they say about insanity: Why should bankrupt newspapers reorganize a broken media business model and expect different results?

Part of their new strategy has to be a streamlined staff and a focus on "hyperlocal" journalism that gets down to the neighborhood level. They need to partner with readers, encouraging content contributions and collaboration.

Hyperlocal also means dropping national and international news that readers already get elsewhere. A good example of this local focus is The Daily Record in Dunn, N.C., which has been the subject of various stories touting its intense commitment to "getting names into the paper."

For more on this topic, see:

• Jarvis on "The Opportunity of Bankruptcy"
• Corvallis businessman Chris Nordyke on the "hyperlocal" newspaper
• Jarvis video on hyperlocal journalism
  
• The Daily Record in Dunn, N.C.

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Photo credit: "Slush Paper" by Pete ツ, courtesy of Flickr/Creative Commons

Is It Time for WordPress 2.9?

Thinking of changing over to WordPress? Maybe now is the time, with the upgrade to WordPress 2.9. The photo editing feature alone makes it worth a second look...

Here's what Mashable had to say: "This release is called 'Carmen' and includes a number of notable additions, including the beginnings of a WordPress image editing tool (cropping, scaling, and rotating), simpler video embeds, and batch plugin updating that should save you a bunch of time."

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How Many Media References Can You Name?

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

This week I joined many of my LBCC colleagues in hosting the Youth Job Fair on campus. I talked about media and journalism. And I gave the high schoolers this challenge: How many media references can you name from the College Humor parody "Web Site Story"?

Well? How many can you name?

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Mr. Splashy Pants Becomes Social Media Hit

You never know what's going to go viral. Take, for instance, Mister Splashy Pants, a humpback whale that Greenpeace made its poster beast to head off whaling in Japan.

Alexis Ohanian shares the fun -- and effective -- tale of the swimming social media sensation in a new TED video, "How to Make a Splash in Social Media." In four minutes, Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, shows how groups can leverage social media to make social change.

As he notes, an effective social media campaign can level the playing field when you don't have a budget -- because it often costs nothing. To make that happen, however, he reminds us that you have to be genuine and you have to be open to losing control of the message.

"It's OK to lose control," he notes. At the same time, "It's OK to take ourselves a little less seriously." That's for sure...

And if you like this video, here's a few other posts to check out:

• Seth Godin on standing out, being remarkable
• LBCC makes multimedia fun

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Websites You Need to Know About

What's hot online? Or at the least, what should you be in the know about, especially if you're in the media? Here to help with its annual checklist of online must-knows is The Guardian's "100 Essential Websites."

The creators note plenty of familiar players here -- Facebook, Twitter, Flickr -- as well as some we may be hearing more about in 2010, such as Tumblr, Posterous, Listorious, Spotify and Pitchfork.

As the article notes: "... The smash hit of 2009 has been (apologies: I know this will cause pain) Twitter, where 1,000-word stories are reduced to 140-character tweets. Short attention spans R us.

"Twitter's rapid growth and open programming interface have given the site a wide impact. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of ancillary sites and services have been launched to help Twitter users post pictures, track followers, or – more usefully, from a commercial point of view – find out what the "hive mind" is thinking."

And what about music?

"Music has been a significant player in the growth of the web since Napster, and its influence continues to grow. Spotify has made the biggest impact this year, gaining mindshare lost by Last.fm and Pandora. Meanwhile, Pitchfork has expanded its role as the web's authoritative music magazine, and The Hype Machine came to prominence as a source of instant erudition by tracking the music blogs."

The list has something for everyone, with categories ranging from microblogging, search and the link economy to gaming, film and celebrity gossip.

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More Advice from a Master Blogger

When you're looking to rejuvenate your blogging routine, a good place to start is one of several tip sheets by social media expert Chris Brogan. "Write Better Blog Posts Today" is his latest post on the subject.

Granted, his blog is geared primarily for those most interested in blogging as a marketing tool. However, would-be journalists and others in the media also will find plenty to get them thinking. Today, for instance, he writes about selecting subjects, titles, style and language:

"Above all else, when choosing your preferred subject, consider writing about something that will be useful to others. Equipping other people to succeed (like I attempt with this blog) is a great way to build your prominence within the space. If you’re really into knitting, don’t just write that you love knitting; show people how you created that amazing iPhone cozy, and explain why you prefer wood to aluminum needles (hint: airport security)."

and

"I try to write in a conversational tone, and yet informative. This is my choice of style. You might choose a more formal tone. You might choose a more conversational tone. Blogging, overall, is a bit more conversational than traditional journalistic style, written as if you and I are conversing. This suits most people just fine."

or

"And finally, if no one’s reading your stuff, you’ve gotta consider why. Is it bad writing? Is it too long? Is it not visually broken up for people’s eyes to scan? Is the topic too minor for people to consider? Or are you posting at the wrong times? There are lots of things to troubleshoot. Just don’t leave it be. Try something. Try something with each new post."

Brogan ends by linking to many of his previous posts on blogging, including his "best" advice, how to blog every day and brainstorming.

For more on blogging, see:

• Luckie's 7 Rules of Blogging - D'oh!
• Godin Talks Blogging with Groundswell
• Just Blog It! Tips for Blog Writers

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"Googled" -- A Good Read on an Icy Day

Now that Fall term is officially completed at LBCC, I'm doing some "research" over the break, beginning with reading Ken Auletta's new book, "Googled: The End of the World as We Know It." (I already have my students read Jeff Jarvis' book, "What Would Google Do?" for Media & Society.)

Twenty-four pages into "Googled" and I can see I might blast through it in a few days (especially if the ice outside continues to hold the family hostage...). As other reviewers have noted, it's a fast read that covers a lot of ground that's already appeared in a lot of stories about the fabled company.

While many readers already know the story behind the company's beginnings and its geeky founders, the strength of the book so far is Auletta's insider access to Google as well as key media and advertising industry players. So he can observe: "Google engineers don't make gut decisions. They have no way to quantify relationships or judgment. They value efficiency more than experience. They require facts, beta testing, mathematical logic. Google fervently believes it is shaping a new and better media world..."

Auletta discusses some of the issues highlighted in his book and more up-to-date information (e.g. Chrome and the Google Phone) in Friday's online Q&A in the Washington Post. Asked about his access to Google execs, including the founders, while writing the book, he says: "(Larry) Page and (Sergey) Brin are not garrulous executives, like many corporate types. They are not consumed by their wealth, which now hovers around $15 billion each. But they each have a jet airplane, and new families, and at 36 are spending a bit more time smelling the roses."

Other links:

• Auletta talks to Terry Gross on NPR's "Fresh Air."
• Auletta on C-SPAN's "Q&A."

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How to Make a Worm Composting Bin -- Really!

And now for something completely different...

This past term, while wrapping up my MBA at Willamette University, I worked with a group that examined the possibilities for composting in the university's food service. It was an interesting project in which we ultimately recommended the university contract with a local company in order to reuse 100 percent of Willamette's food waste, which the company would haul away and use as "fuel" for its large-scale worm composting operation.

Anyway, my daughter Alison just arrived home from college and shared this FUN video of a couple of guys -- the Enviro-Mentals -- and their quest to build a handy worm composting bin. So if you're into sustainability or just gardening and finding a use for all those daily food scraps, enjoy this humorous and helpful video.

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p.s. One of these guys -- Hal Brindley -- also has a very cool website that shows off his wildlife photography!

Luckie's 7 Rules of Blogging - D'oh!

I can always count on 10,000 Words by Mark Luckie to reinforce the blogging lessons my students are learning this term in News Reporting and Photojournalism -- post often, check your spelling, add links...

So today Luckie has seven reminders for those new to blogging, or those who've been at it awhile but may be getting lazy. Here's his take on frequent posting: "If your posts are months apart and your last few posts apologize for not blogging enough, do your readers and yourself a favor and just close up shop." Ouch!

Other no-no's: Talking down to readers, going off topic, turning off comments, not supplying an RSS feed.

"A blog isn't just about writing," Luckie reminds us, "it's about stimulating conversation and discussion. If your readers have no way of responding to a post then you look like a jerk. Even worse: turning off comments on a particular post because someone disagrees with you." D'oh!

If you don't have Luckie's 10,000 Words on your blog list, you should.

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Get a Free Copy of Seth Godin's New Book

Those of you who follow my blog, know that I'm of huge fan of marketing guy Seth Godin.

If you'd like to find out why, I'm guessing you will find the answer in his new book, "Linchpin." The best part is if you act NOW you can get a free copy of the book. Really. I just did.

So don't delay.

rob

Seth, you're welcome for this free plug...