Why and How Local Journalism Must Change

The world of print journalism has changing.  Last year I submitted an article to a start up magazine.  The owner/publisher has decided that it isn't feasible. He couldn't get enough advertising to even start. The same dilemma faces local news outlets, whether it newspaper or television.  Those highly mature organizational systems are under threat from the outside, and from an outsider that they have been slow to understand. That outsider is the Internet.

Two recent blog postings point to the changes happening.

First read, Doc Searls recommendations for How to Save Newspapers.  These are wise words from one of the Cluetrain gurus.  My own assessment is that journalism has attracted the wrong people into its service. Too many of them are issue driven. Too many are looking to create a story. Too many of them are posers. They pose objectivity when they are clearly biased.  As a result, there is a not only a disconnect with the reading public, but there is a real issue of integrity.  It goes to my contention that I've held for a long time that local newspapers are where the whole community comes together to speak to one another. It should be essential reading for everyone in the community.

The second read is from Terry Heaton who writes about a television station in Nashville, TN. that experimented with live streaming on their website severe weather coverage. The experiment was a success from a visits point of view as 11,000 people/ a whole rating point, went to the site looking for information on the storm.

How, you ask, did they manage a whole rating point worth of viewers without promoting it on the air? This is the web’s law of attraction at work, and it’s something most broadcasters completely miss. The online “audience” is not the on-air audience, and people are a whole lot smarter than we think. They know where to go, because that’s what people do on the web. They discover things on their own and through word-of-mouth.

In this case, WKRN’s NashvilleWx.com has been online for over two years, and it has a considerable following. Not everybody shows up every day, but that’s not the point. It has gained that audience through a steady commitment to quality and service, and it’s there when people want it or need it. In other words, it draws users to it instead of blasting how great it is. It’s evolved into a social network of sorts, because people carry on weather conversations in the comments. This is what I call the law of attraction, and it’s a critical factor in the growth of Media 2.0 applications.

What local papers and TV news outlets must understand is that people's behavior patterns have changed. And changed dramatically. What they expect from local news has changed, and changed dramatically. With the rise of citizen journalist, local bloggers, and weekly competitors who feature only local goings-on, local journalism is no longer what it was, even ten years ago.

Terry is absolutely correct. Loyal watchers of the evening news are not the same people visiting the station's website to get the same information.  This diversity is the wave of the future.  It is why I suggested to the publisher of this tabled magazine that maybe he should consider starting it online so it can find a audience that is not specific to the local community. We'll see where that conversation goes.

Comments

[secret law of attraction]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts in that last post. You have a talent for making a hard subject clear to others. I enjoy reading the posts from a guy who has the same flair for explaining things.

[universal law of attraction]

That was a really knowledgeable post. I often find that this topic is complicated to get your head round but you have summed it up really well. You reminded me of a guy I was reading the other day who was really good too.

[manifest wealth]

I have to comment on your last post about the subject as it was so informative. You really know what you are talking about and can explain things really well. I have only read posts by one other guy who writes as well as you do.

[Galba Bright]

Ed:

I enjoyed your post. This idea of a Internet Law of Attraction is very interesting. Ideas get spread differently in this "long tail" world. One of the challenges that bloggers face is how to remain credible whilst maintaining a point of view.

I think that bloggers will need to be transparent about their purpose. They also need to be honest what they don't know, or when they've changed their minds. In the 21st century, "You can't fool all of the people all of the time"

[Ellen Weber]

What an interesting take on the wave of the future for media Ed! Thanks! Do you see ways that less bias, more integrity and finer exchanges can happen - out the broken systems of journalism. I'd love you hear more!