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Not too long ago we did a show about the most recent buyout packages at The Oregonian and spent some time looking towards the future of journalism in this region. As Emily noted in a blog post after the program, the discussion opened up as many questions as it answered. She wrote:
Lots of doors opened but no house tour! That's what today's show felt like for me. Our overriding goal was to explore what impact the shrinking Oregonian has on people who are interested in what's happening in the state and on other Oregon news organizations... I wanted to at least sketch a blueprint of the future of journalism in this state. I walked away half-wondering whether the new architecture would look significantly different from the old.
Now the time has come to really explore that question. Next weekend there is a conference taking place in Portland called We Make the Media. The organizers, most of whom are very involved with the local journalism scene in one way or another, say:
The journalism we want and need is dying, dead – or yet to be born. The time has come for new approaches, tools, business models, and media organizations to be built and nurtured.
They also say those new approaches require good reporting, investigative journalism, and a separation of fact from fiction. What should those future models look like? How can journalism be funded? Where do you want to go to get your news? Have you found a model elsewhere (like in San Diego, perhaps) that you really like?
If you have a moment, check out the working papers created by the conference organizers and then let us know what you think. What stands out for you as the best model moving forward? Where do you want to get your news?
Please note: OPB is a sponsor, and our news director is one of the organizers, of this conference.
Tagged as: journalism · newspaper
Photo credit: Just.Luc (just.Censored) / Creative Commons
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You can find The St. Johns Review — and download a PDF to check out — here:
http://www.stjohnsreview.com/
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I subscribe to the St. Johns Review and the Sentinel also published in North Portland, because I'm living in Kenton and wanted to support them.
I find them kind of interesting for local history and some mentions of things like new bike paths and I look at the neighborhood ads, but don't find them wildly newsworthy. I read the Oregonian for news.
I do not read any newspapers online because I'm 62 and need the paper in my hand along with my coffee!
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Just like ardens said, Coffee and a newspaper go hand in hand, for me the computer is the only way to get my hands on a copy before it is 3 weeks old.
Even with news available electronically, print has alot of advantages, I always print articles and news worthy events for later use.
Nothing is quite as nice as reading a 8.5 X 11 black and white copy of the St. Johns Review on a porta pottie just after a desert sunrise.
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The industry was based on control of the public voice. A printing press is expensive, and this barrier has protected journalism until now.
This story does not have to be about loss of jobs, newspapers, or outdated business models. Instead it can be about the discussion of how we can innovate to provide a richer more interactive end user experience.
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At some point papers realized that they could replace writers with a macro to typeset AP content and ads. (USA Today anyone?)
People figured out they could get the same AP content without the advertising through sites like news.google.com.
Now the papers are desperately trying to localize content so people will have a reason to pick up the local paper. But there is only so much they can wring out of last night's High School game scores.
Reeks of desperation to me.
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There is something important I mentioned in your last show on this topic about the current plight of the media, that I really haven't heard discussed (not just on your show---but in general). It is not simply that the media can't make money anymore using the old models, it is (I think) partially that people have so much access to the affairs of the world that they simply have less of an interest in what goes on locally. In the past people read publications like the Oregonian for all there news coverage: local, national and international. But why read the Oregonian for that when you can read the New York Times, the preeminent publication. In some ways the best news sources are no longer a luxury item, everyone can read them no matter where they are, so they don't have an interest in lesser publications. Lesser publications are generally local news---unless you live in a big city. Essentially, it is not just that people are getting news from other sources it is also that they are simply less interested in local news. I have no idea how you could really fix that. I am kind of afraid that no matter how good of a product we deliver that their simply isn't an audience for it.
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I disagree with Don, I think there needs to be a one stop shop for news.
I find local news very boring and prefer reading national or world news. I get the Oregonian because I feel that it's my responsibility to know what is happening in my community, but I find the disconnect between what is happening here and it's relationship to national or world news frustrating. I want a micro and macro understanding of topics.
I think the future of news needs to be something like Google News, where you could access local, national and world news, and have links to related articles from local news site around the country and world - it would be great if you could also have news items with links to opposing views and coverage. Wouldn't it be great if you could read the conservative view of a story and immediately see what the libral view was, on that very topic.
I would pay a monthy fee for access to integrated news coverage. -
Regardless of the method of delivery, or model of business, journalism seems to be on the outs with the public. Especially newspapers. Reading comments like Pinback's above, or most of the comments people post on OregonLive, it seems to me that people are very disenchanted (and even angry) with media providers. They can come up with new business models, new ways to deliver information, but if public perception and regard is so low, is there any way to save them?
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If it bleeds it leads....
Local journalism has reduced their in-depth quality coverage to the point that it's value is questioned.
I believe journalists' can compete on quality, why don't they?
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I quite agree. I live in Bay City on the Coast and find that none of the PDX broadcast newscasts are newsworthy, even if it bleeds. Journalists, especially those on the "streets" are highly educated and I believe they would rather do reporting that informs of more than the latest murder in PDX. What about more town hall type inquiries. For example, recently Washington had a ballot issue regarding same sex benefits and S.W. Washington is limited to PDX news. I am sure plenty of people would have been glad to speak to both sides of that issue.
Jounalists want to work, but I'll bet many of them do not like to run to a murder scene at three in the morning to interview grieving family members. I feel sorry that they can not report news that might make a difference in those cases - such as how a community can re-make itself.
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I publish a "hyperlocal" monthly -- The Cedar MIll News. It started 7 years ago as a newsletter for our business association, but quickly turned into a neighborhood paper. http://cedarmill.org/news
I have experienced a real surge in ad revenue in the last year - just as the Oregonian has cut back.
While I rarely get "breaking news" I do cover local issues in more depth than my readers can get anywhere else -- politics, governance, development etc. My goal has been to connect people to the community so that they invest themselves, their families, and their dollars in Cedar Mill.
It started out as a side activity, but is now my biggest source of income. We have over 1200 online readers, and 600 printed copies (printing donated by Copytronix) and it's available both as a PDF and as separate web pages.
Let me know if you want me to call in and comment...
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Solutions: 1) public records that generate investigative stories and earn revenue; 2) topically and geographically targeted mobile ads in real time. Read more at nozzlmedia.com.
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Congratulations to Michelle Rafter and Abraham Hyatt for bringing this topic to the forefront. The convergence of online and offline news, journalist-generated content and community-generated content, local and global news, physical publications and virtual publications has brought a great deal of upheaval, but it will most likely bring a great deal of creativity and solution to how news is delivered and consumed. These are exciting times!
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As an arts editor for the Eugene Weekly and an adjunct instructor at the U of Oregon's J-school, I'm fairly well-occupied by this topic a lot of the time. Things I've been thinking about lately:
• Glasstire, an online Texas arts magazine which just won the National Arts Journalism Summit's first project competition. Could Oregon sustain something like this? (Even though I love Portland and adore the arts communities there, I'd want it to be TRULY statewide.)
• Models like the Bay Area's Spot.Us, which takes pitches from journalists and others, crowdsources the funding and works with everything from local weeklies to, yes, the New York Times to get these stories out.
• Portland's Neighborhood Notes, which my Reporting 1 students have looked at and, even before we knew about it, were emulating to a certain extent on our class blog. On the blog, they must post both traditional stories like profiles and more opinion or experience-based pieces on the Eugene neighborhoods they picked. The culminating project concerns health, health care or any health-related topic within these neighborhoods (drug use, sports fields and the emotional health of immigrant families that are broken up by the recession are three of the topics). Of course, we're not trying to make money at this ... yet. I'd be pumped to see an entrepreneurial course for journalism students! They're creative, and they're Steve Smith's wished-for age of 20, so I definitely see a bright future for them — and I hope they're getting the tools from all of their classes that make them flexible and ready to adapt to delivering content in a variety of forms.
Thanks for the ongoing discussion, Emily, Dave, Sarah, Julie et al. I look forward to hearing more about keeping energy and optimism going at a time when daily newspapers seem to be struggling.
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I tried an experiment ~5yrs ago... I stopped taking print news media and stopped watching all local/national news on TV (including CNN, etc.)... just to see if I'd miss it.
I've never looked back, I realized that I was tired of having someone else decide what was the news and finding it personally irrelevant. So I dropped out and picked two european, one asian and one american online sources of information... much better and free.
The only thing that I want to know locally are: Laws that are either up for a vote or a review, development, a laundry list of things to do (no reviews, I'll find out for myself) and a crime-map... something like a topo or isobaric map of where crime is occuring and what kinds.
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This was a good show and I'd like to echo Steve Smith's comments about this being an exciting time to be in journalism and I, too, wish I was 20 y.o. and just getting started! It's exciting because technology now allows us the opportunity to hold onto the best of traditional journalism and blend it with greater community participation and debate.
The Oregonian just launched four hyperlocal websites for: Tigard, Tualatin, Lake Oswego and West Linn. These websites are intensely local and a one-stop source for news. We're feeding them with great content by Oregonian staffers, and we're looking for a lot of community participation and conversation. Thanks TOL and let us know what you think.Phil Manzano, community webmaster;
philmanzano@news.oregonian.com
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At this point I don’t think anyone has a really good answer about how journalism will be funded. Print media (I’m including online here) is in such a state of flux and the market is too fluid right now to make a reasonable guess about business models for journalism.
Neighborhood Notes is advertising based and we will continue to offer new advertising opportunities as our site grows and evolves. However we are always considering new sources of revenue.
I do think that original content is extremely important. One of the many reasons people are abandoning newspapers is that they relied to heavily on wire services, and stopped reporting about really local issues that directly affect peoples lives. Some of our most commented on stories were about land use and development issues that directly affect people.
I also think that people do want more fact and less opinion in their news. Personally, I am sick and tired of news with a political bias. Having news reported from such poles distorts the facts and, in my opinion, can mislead people. I believe that fair and objective reporting is essential for the new journalism business model.
I don’t see aggregation as a really viable business model. People can and do act as their own aggregators already by using RSS etc to select the news they receive. All too often aggregators get details, such as the location of the story, incorrect. People loose patience with these mistakes and they hurt the credibility of the aggregator as a news source.
Community participation is vital for a news site, but citizen journalists present many challenges. Quality of writing, variety of stories, ability to do research and thoroughly investigate a story, and long-term dedication are some of the difficulties with citizen journalists. Since they are usually not getting paid, citizen journalists tend to write about only what interests them, and after the initial excitement interest can waiver because of the time commitment required.
I think we are going to see a wide variety of experimental business models over the next few years as we all try to understand how journalism will be funded in the future. It makes for a very exciting time! -
Comments are now closed.
First, this is an awesome topic. I was born and raised in North Portland, I always had more newspaper choices than I new what to do with, sadly many have dwindled and faded. I think the new landscape will not be a strictly digital media involving computers.
Recently in the Oregonian there was an article about the man who started a commnity paper in North Plains, OR.
Over the years I have seen these papers come and go, I am currently in Iraq, and I love to read the St. Johns review, they offer the entire paper in PDF format, and I print off copies for my Soldiers and myself. I still read the oregonian online, but it is just like any other online news outlet now, and the same stories are availible on TV channel websites.
The bigger Portland gets the more we will see a need for nieghborhood papers, and news outlets.