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Traditional Media is So Screwed.

Submitted by Patrick Ruffini on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 07:29
in

One of the most interesting consequences of this recession will be the dramatic reordering of media in America. Many local newspapers will go out of print. Even big national organs like the New York Times will not be immune to these pressures. Internet news will become more and more pervasive.

The copyright cartels of the MSM will raise a hue-and-cry. Many will bemoan the loss of professional news journalism in many metro areas. But the fact is that theirs was always a flawed system. A single publication that mashes up the news, editorials, sports, business, the comics, and the classifieds is a fundamentally flawed product in the 21st century when the Internet gives us deep-dive ability on any particular topic that interests us. 

Outside.in founder Steven Johnson gave a great talk in March showing how the new way in media can be better than the old. The transition from old to new media is not unknown -- it's already happened in technology journalism, which used to be dominated by a set of monthly magazines with two-month-old news and is now thoroughly ruled by a flourishing and profitable ecosystem of blogs and podcasts that can bring you the latest Apple announcement in seconds.

The next media vertical to be revolutionized is politics, and it's already happening. Take a look, for instance, at this rundown of headlines from Sunday night in the Politics section of the Washington Post, including blogs, and stack it up to everything on the Politico's homepage, which doesn't have a print product to speak of and is very much the upstart:

Washington Post:

Obama Tries to Set New Tone in Europe
Admirers Await President Obama in Turkey
NATO Backs Obama's Afghanistan Plan
Obama Is Set to Speak on Global Arms Control
Czechs Protest Missile Defense Project
Obama Advisers Were Paid Commentators
Republicans May Be Stuck on Cohesion
Va. GOP Ousts Chairman Who Didn't Resign
Dead Heat in New York Special Election
Friday Governors Line: A "Once in a Generation" Election
House Ethics Committee Takes Action (Against Nothing)
Obama's Task Tougher at Second Summit

Politico:

N. Korea launch reignites debate
Obama calls for 'world without' nukes
Axelrod: Obama will create nuke-free world
Launch 'short of success,' says Rice
UN must condemn North Korea
Poll: Voters back force in N. Korea
Media to cover war dead
Palin camp responds to Levi Johnston
VIDEO: Sunday show highlights
GM planning for bankruptcy
New GM CEO makes $1.3 million
Henderson: Obama isn't running GM
Adulation, but little help, for Obama
Obama trip no 'European Vacation'
VIDEO: Axelrod slams Cheney
Gen. Jones on Obama, deal broker
Troops 'a strong down payment'
W.H. team discloses TARP firm ties
VIDEO: Newt: I would've disabled missile
POTUS arrives in Ankara
Open Mic weekend
VIDEO: Obama addresses North Korea
Geithner open to GM bankruptcy
Treas. Sec.: Progress is uneven
Geithner: Will enforce exec pay limits
Michelle and mom in Essence
Europe melts for Michelle
The two-country, 30-leader photo op
NY Times Co. threatens to close Globe
Spitzer spotting
VIDEO: Obama puts best spin on G-20
Murdoch's WSJ takes copy, too
Donough: The age-old nukes bargain
Anti-Obama talk worries some on right

It's no contest. The number of stories run over the weekend by Politico outpaced the top political newspaper in the country by more than 2-to-1. A lot of political people can question the editorial judgment of Politico (see the Michelle! stories) -- but they said the same thing about blogs. This is the blogification of news. Politico can approach the news in a much more granular and jocular style -- taking on both the meta-narratives and the pop culture angle -- that is a lot more like the way political junkies interact with the news. WaPo, on the flip side, is weighted towards stodgy foreign policy stories that check the establishment box but are hobbled by the need to appeal to a general audience that isn't clued in to the alternatives yet. We've heard a lot about reporter blogs as the future, but the list above shows that in terms of sheer currency, the new journalism is best executed by outlets without the institutional baggage of a Washington Post.

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Comments

The reason Politico

Submitted by T D Williams on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 13:00.

can publish so much in such a short space of time is that their main concern can be intellectual content. 

I was CFO of a small publishing house in the late 90's.  Approximately 90% of the cost of publication was taken up with the materials and processes for printing a work and distributor fees.

So, cutting out:

1. 90% of the cost of publishing

2. the need to fit content into a limited number of pages (which also eliminates the vast majority of editorial concerns), and

3. the need to have everything ready for publication at one point in time

means that Politico (and all online publishing ventures) can out gun the print media on content and diversity of content at 10% of the cost.  That's why Politico has been able to establish itself as a major source (if not a top source) of political information in so short a period of time.  Compare that with how long it took USA TODAY to establish itself.

Why Politico had so many stories

Submitted by tdawg11870 on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 16:42.

I clicked through on a few of those Politico stories and I found a White House transcript, a summary of an article in Essence magazine and two video clips from CNN - nothing requiring so much as a phone call to a newsmaker!  The fact that the online media can get the "latest Apple announcement" straight from Apple is nice, but it isn't reporting, it's just skipping a step in the dissemination of press releases.

The traditional media may be screwed, but the online media has a very, very long way to go before it can deliver new content like the MSM can.

The Problem with Online Reporting? Government gets Corrupt.

Submitted by section9 on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 20:33.

 Online reporting is leading to a collapse in investigative and street-level journalism. The great journalists, like the old Chicago Sun-Times' Mike Royko, started out as cub beat reporters on the street, sniffing out stories. Old Man Daley hated Royko, and the Mob tried to have him killed, but they were warned off of it by the Machine, I think.

The Print Media is geared to do things that online media is NOT YET equipped to do. This is not to say that New Media cannot do this. For example, one of the things we are going to find out about the Obama Administration is how much it actually gets away with because there are fewer and fewer investigative reporters who are either able (or willing, for that matter) to investigate the Administration.

There's nobody at Politico that can really replace Royko, iow. 

The New Media will also revert to 19th Century partisanship because of the nature of the medium. This is a prediction I can pretty much bet on as a lead pipe cinch. Institutions like the NYT are dying for two reasons: their business model is fundamentally unsound in the 21st Century and they carry a pretense of objectivity that no one believes. Everyone knows they are partisan. Once you've lost your credibility as an impartial teller of the news, it's only a matter of time before you're dead.

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