We’ve covered on several occasions the notion that the future of mainstream media is local media - that the network effect of the web removes the need of news collecting organizations or editorial teams. On Publishing 2.0 Scott Karp explores the theme further by wondering if newspapers should become local blog networks.
Maybe what newspapers should become in the digital media era is a network of local bloggers — maybe there are three tiers of journalists at these blog network “newspapers”:
- Full-time reporters and editors, who ensure breadth of coverage, quality and standards, and public mission
- Paid freelancers who write on a regular basis, but not full-time — these can be stay-at-home parents looking for supplemental income, retirees looking for extra income or to keep busy, college students, etc.
- “Witness” reporters (avoiding “citizen journalist” on purpose), who contribute to the reporting effort when they witness news in some form
Many newspapers are closer to this model than they may realize, but there a few radical steps required:
- Use more freelancers who can post to blogs part-time
- Create a platform for anyone to report news — but on the established blogs, not in some big sloshing vat of random submissions — if someone wants to contribute regularly, give them their own blog, a focus, and (just enough) structure
- And stop publishing in print.
Which sounds like a promising direction. The problem that we see is that journalists can’t blog. Nor do the majority want to. We’re kind of reminded of all those industries where the workforce were replaced by fewer more technically-skilled staff with better machines to do the job…
Should Newspapers Become Local Blog Networks? » Publishing 2.0
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I tend to believe that newspapers have got to go local; aside from the NYT, WSJ and USA Today, their only USP is true local understanding.
But media commentators sometimes forget that the “news” part of the paper is often an afterthought for consumers, who pay 25 cents to a dollar for a package of advertising with economic value to them (coupons, cars for sale, etc.)
I’ve yet to be convinced that a network of local blogs can provide the footprint and brand that’ll allow that. And if local supermarkets & auto dealers figure out how to use Craigslist effectively then all local papers are sunk.
July 24th, 2007 at 6:20 am
Other than the NYT and USA Today and WSJ, US newspapers really are local. Pick up the Charlotte Observer, the St. Pete Times, the Denver Post, and you’ll see that local stories dominate the front page.
Most big and medium-sized US newspapers are using their news staff to report and post news on their web sites. Many also have regular freelancers, but they must have some training and must abide by the newspaper’s standards.
And I think that’s as it should be. Who has the time to read the observations of stay-at-home Moms or retirees or citizens who just happen to stumble on an event that turns out to be newsworthy? Not me. I want my information mediated by someone who knows what’s news. I wouldn’t call journalism a profession, but it is a skill, and not everyone has it.
July 24th, 2007 at 6:00 pm