At least we’re here for the death rattle! (Reaction 3)

As our society changes, so does our communication systems and platforms. As new methods are developed and technology allows for faster, cheaper and easier forms, we have seen changes in preferred methods. The Darwinian evolution of mass communication, both as news and entertainment, has forced changes in theater, radio, television and newspapers. Unfortunately, from the perspective of a newspaper company employee, newspapers have failed to foresee the evolution of the web and are now floundering to find their identity as they attempt to hold on. Newspapers, whether they continue to operate in their long-time print format, need to remove the word “paper” from their mindset and reinvent themselves as multi-media news organizations capable of offering more than the traditional view of news.

In “Democracy and Filtering,” Cass R. Sunstein makes the statement that specialized sites and blogs allow people to express opinions and share content at “trivial cost” (Sunstein, 2004, p. 57). While that is true in terms of financial capital required to establish an online news organization–registration and hosting is relatively inexpensive when compared with start-up figures for a traditional print-based news agency–the cost to established media groups is great. The costs can be measured on the balance sheets and when viewing the role of the press as the Fourth Estate in our democracy. Inexpensive startups like Craigslist have siphoned revenue from newspapers’ classifieds sections. Craigslist offers a free service to people looking to do everything from sell a sofa to finding parts for your car to meet for a quickie during lunch; all of which can be viewed and used with ease from the privacy and comfort of your personal computer. On the other hand, newspapers repeat their editorial “shovelware” philosophy of casting the same content-both with editorial and advertising-from their print product onto their website (Matheson, 2004, p. 444). This failure to offer user-friendly classified advertising that can be posted and removed 24 hours a day, 365 days per year, has driven newspaper customers away from traditional classified advertising to sites like Craigslist.

But the costs to newspapers, and our communities, are greater than drops in bottom-line revenue. It is traditional thinking that a well-informed public is the key to a strong democracy. Beyond the philosophical approach to government ideals, a well-informed public makes for better businesses, better artists and an overall better society. While newspapers continue to shed staffers through layoffs and attrition, their content suffers. Fewer staff members mean fewer stories. Fewer stories results in fewer perspectives being provided. This lessens the chances of people reading stories they might not have sought out on their own (Sunstein, 2004, p. 58). The limiting of consumption ultimately leads to more polarized viewpoints; just use talk radio as an example (Sustein, 2004, p. 59). The less people are exposed to views that conflict with their own, the more likely they are to hold tighter to the philosophies they believe. But, as Sustein mentions, “emerging technologies, including the Internet, are hardly an enemy.”

Media organizations–especially newspapers–need to embrace new technologies to serve readers’ interests and offer differing viewpoints in an effort to keep their readers and make their business model relevant again. Paul Bass, former editor of New Haven’s long-standing alternative weekly The New Haven Advocate, launched The New Haven Independent shortly after leaving the newspaper. The New Haven Independent does not require office space, newsprint, ink, a press or a distribution network. While Bass, a trained journalist, has yet to capture the advertising revenue on his site a traditional newspaper would require to operate, his low overhead allows him to continue to work with minimal financial support. Bass’ work fits the three themes Matheson mentions about weblogs (2004, p. 451).

(1) weblogs as a space for journalistic thinking for which institutional journalism provides little room;
(2) weblogs as a challenge to corporate journalism; and
(3) weblogs as a democratic, interactive space.

Bass left a corporate-owned publication to give birth to The Independent. He consistently uses his space to challenge coverage in corporate-owned media–both in print and broadcast. With some of his Advocate readers following him to his new platform, Bass receives strong feedback from readers who turn his publication into an “interactive space.” While Bass’ foray into online journalism is striking, it still has the “old media” feel (Matheson, 200, p. 460).

The site Lawrence.com is a step toward the model that may prove more successful for mainstream news(papers) … remember, drop the “paper” from the thinking. Lawrence.com was conceived as an online portal for Lawrence, Kansas and the growing art and music scene in the area. While the site does provide specialized content, its model is the beauty. Lawrence.com includes a database for restaurants that allows users to search by cuisine, location, hours, delivery and dozens of other options. The band database is searchable by music, next performance, style of music and includes audio clips and photographs. Both databases include the ability for users to offer feedback, comments and reviews. This functionality faces the questions raised in Nicholas W. Jankowski and Martine van Selm’s “Traditional News Media Online: An Examination of Addes Values.” The difference is that Lawrence.com does not look at these searchable databases, extended achieves, feedback and audio/video clips as “added value,” because they are the functionality that users demand and deserve.

By transitioning away from the traditional “shovelware” approach and adopting a hybrid of the philosophies outlined above, newspapers can continue to thrive in this digital age. The print edition holds value because it is portable and inexpensive for the user/reader to purchase while Blackberries and internet-enabled cell phones are not inexpensive enough to fully cover the market. By taking the fully functional approach Lawrence.com uses for entertainment and applying it to news (rather than a searchable band database, have a civic events calendar or sports schedules), newspapers can serve their audiences digitally without the constraints of their newshole. A large cache of searchable and customizable information ranging from school lunch menus to town hall meetings to a business directory can augment the traditional news reporting. Adding video and audio of meetings and events that users/readers cannot attend, or offering video introductions to new restaurants delivers the experience on multiple platforms. Now all we have to do is convince the bosses to do it.

Matheson, D. (2004). Weblogs and the epistemology of the news: some trends in online journalism. New Media & Society, 6(4). 443-468.

Sunstein, C. (2004). Democracy and filtering. Communications of the ACM, 47(12), 57-59.

Jankowski, N. & van Selm, M. (2001). Traditional news media online: an examination of added value (pp. 375-392). In K. Renckstorf, D. McQuail, & N. Jankowski, Television news research: Recent European approaches and findings. Berlin: Quintessense.