Week 5: Father of online news aggregation retires

This week it was announced that Jim Romenesko, founder of the self titled blog run through the Poynter Institute website, will be retiring from the blog at some point next year.  Mr Romeneskos blog is widely considered to be the first news aggregation site and allowed readers to  connect through an online community in which they could debate and comment on the story of the day.

According to the New York Times Mr. Romenesko describes his decision as a ‘semi-retirement’.  “I’m not going to be doing three-sentence summaries of other people’s work, that’s behind me,” he said.

Instead Mr Romenesko will focus his efforts into his new website JimRomenesko.com which will, in addition to media, discuss other topics such as food, finance and real estate.  

Since beginning my studies of Journalism I have enjoyed reading Mr Romeneskos work and am excited to see that the Romenesko blog on the Pointer Institute website will continue to operate and host his works after his retirement.    

Sources
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/business/media/jim-romenesko-an-original-blogger-about-journalism-retires.html
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/24/romenesko-medias-chronicler-announces-retirement/
http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=5136
http://www.poynter.org/

Week 4: Social media and freedom of speech

Since there were no lectures or readings this week I wanted to talk about something that occurred in the aftermath of the London Riots.

Consider this article by Juliette Garside published on the Guardians Website today.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/aug/21/riots-throw-telecoms-firms-social-media-controls-into-spotlight

In it she states that politicians are rethinking the extent to which police can block access to communications networks and social media during times of civil unrest.  The most glaring quote comes from the British Prime Minister David Cameron who states “When people are using social media for violence, we need to stop them.”   

First of all I want to make it clear that at no point do I agree with the acts committed by the people involved in the recent London riots or support the use of technology to commit violence, however this attempt by the British government to censor social media and mobile communications networks appears to conflict with the way western countries celebrated the use of social media in the political upheavals throughout the Middle East.  In fact in February of this year, in a speech to Kuwait National Assemble Mr Cameron stated that freedom of speech and the Internet in freedom of assembly should be the entitlement of people everywhere, “of people in Tahrir Square as much as Trafalgar Square.”  Most people would agree that celebrating social media as a platform for democracy overseas whilst attempting to restrict its use at home is a huge contradiction.   

In fact news sources have reported that during the riots social media was used more to report on the riots and inform people about which areas were safe and to organize cleanups than they were to plan criminal activity.  Whether you enjoy using social media or not, no one can deny that it contributes more good than harm in a crisis situation as we have seen in response to the Christchurch Earthquakes or Queensland floods this year and blocking social media is just an attempt at a quick fix, rather than try to understand the real cause of the problem.

Sources:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/aug/21/riots-throw-telecoms-firms-social-media-controls-into-spotlight

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/08/british-prime-minister-does-180-internet

http://theconversation.edu.au/dont-shoot-the-instant-messenger-david-camerons-social-media-shutdown-plan-wont-stop-uk-riots-2854

http://www.newstatesman.com/middle-east/2011/02/kuwait-british-arab-security

Week 3: The future of mainstream journalism

In a speech made to UC Berkley Graduate School of Journalism, Mark Danner highlighted a paradox within the rise of online journalism in the traditional newspaper business model. 

Using the example of the New York Times, the leading and most authoritative newspaper in the United States,  it appears that the amount of newspapers being sold is declining, yet,  readership numbers are higher than ever.  Danner compares the decline of print news as being similar to the effects that online file sharing had on the music industry, labeling the consequences for the industry as dire.  Despite this he believes that the newspaper will survive both in print and digital format. 

I agree with the second part of his statement.  It is likely that there will always be a dedicated audience who prefer to read their news through a printed medium, however, as the internet continues to grow  it is unlikely print newspapers will ever be as widely read or profitable as they were before the internet. 

However, if the mainstream newspapers are going to find way to adapt to the digital audience, they need to realize that digital content is completely different from print and in order to generate revenue it needs to be marketed to a more specific audience.  If publication is aimed toward a target audience, readers might be willing to pay for subscriptions and advertising could be tailored to appeal to the audience's interests. As evidenced by entrepreneurs such as David Parkin, founder of Thebusinessdesk.com, it is definatly possible to operate online and be financially sustainable.


Sources:
http://onlinejournalismblog.com/2010/01/18/nujs-making-journalism-pay-online-five-points/
http://lifeofwylie.com/2010/01/17/new-ways-to-make-journalism-pay-2/
http://gigaom.com/2010/03/28/what-does-the-future-hold-for-newspapers/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNPcQdNr7pU

  




 

Week 2

In the last decade the internet has significantly altered the way in which people interact with news.   The rise of online journalism has made it possible for non-journalists to contribute news by volunteering information directly and posting comments, pictures and videos that can be picked up and republished.  As Tom Standage says "The internet has turned the news industry upside down, making it more participatory, social, diverse and partisan—as it used to be before the arrival of the mass media." 

The internet has also altered the ways in which audiences consume news.  From 2005 - 2009 newspaper circulation decreased by 13.3% in the USA.   (http://www.economist.com/node/18904136?story_id=18904136).  Conversly the number of Americans who got their news from the internet increased from approximately 10% in 2001 to just under 50% in 2010.  As the Economist states the internet has upended newspapers’ traditional business model through undermining advertising revenue, making news reports a commodity and blurring the boundaries between previously distinct news organisations.  As the internet continues to grow it is clear that the industry will require new business models  to adapt to the changing nature of news consumption.