The Project for Excellence in Journalism released the findings of its State of the News Media 2008 report. Revealing, the report highlights some of the key issues facing journalists, media companies, advertisers and consumers of media.
The report finds several major trends including that “user-created content, once thought possibly central to the next era of journalism, for now appear more limited, even among ‘citizen’ sites and blogs.” According to the report, most citizen journalist sites are adopting and practicing editorial models similar to mainstream media organizations. Instead of rejecting the “gatekeeper role of traditional journalism…citizen journalists and bloggers seem to be recreating it in different places.”
With so much personal branding and the proliferation of social media networks, I am not surprised by this finding at all. The rise of blogging and even commenting on blog posts have become instrumental in how members of organizations professionally position and present themselves online.
What is surprising (and somewhat disturbing to me) is the finding that the agenda of the American news media is narrowing – not broadening – in the age of new media. According to the report, a 2007 media audit of the major news stories revealed that more media resources are being devoted to cover fewer but larger stories. As the report states, “The Internet offers the promise of aggregating ever more sources, but its value still depends on what those originating sources are providing. Even as the media world has fragmented into more outlets and option, reporting resources have shrunk.”
One explanation for the limitations of traditional news media and new media to cover a broad array of stories is the ongoing and admittedly confusing way advertising has to adapt to new media models. Another chief trend mentioned in the report is the rise of news as a service and no longer a product. The report suggests that news organizations, citizen journalists and bloggers are moving away from providing “the story” and more towards providing key actionable information to the media consumer to make stories relevant and empowering. The hope, as the report states, is that this shift to service may lead to new revenue streams for the media industry.
What are your thoughts on this year’s State of the News Media report?
As a Journalism student (preface), I am mostly disappointed with the state of MSM, especially as it has related to the political season.
The field itself is obviously in trouble (anybody actually READ the Sun-Times newspaper lately) as the news media hasbecome basically agencies that have to pander to an audience for ad dollars.
A year ago, while serving as a panelist at an American Business Media event, I was asked point-blank by the editor of a prominent industry trade publication how agencies and marketers expected industry publications to maintain editorial quality and integrity as we continue to shift marketing investments from print (and even online) advertising to PR? Fair question and one I’d pondered before but really didn’t have an answer for…not then and not now. The reality is that shifting ad dollars to PR dimes (dimes that go to PR firms, not the media) is rife among many b-to-b marketers today, few of whom think of the long-term implications of their short-term decisions. I don’t blame them. In the short run (how they’re measured), they’re saving oodles of money but in the long run they’re killing the golden goose that’s giving them all of the low-cost share of voice they’re enjoying through PR-centric efforts. Do I believe they should up their investment in print advertising to save or support the goose? No, I don’t think marketers should ever think they “owe” the media such support. While it might make sense for a few, the majority would continue the free ride they’re enjoying on the backs of those marketers who still advertise, whether it’s working for them or not. Do I think industry pubs should charge for PR coverage? Absolutely not! Let’s not even go there, although the practice is prevalent in other regions of the world. The reality is that it’s up to the business media to make itself more desirable, more buyable. How? Through innovation—new ways to connect suppliers to buyers…custom publishing, better web sites, more online advertising plays, events, etc. Still, it’s an uphill battle for many b-to-b publishers. Events are doing well, but, with a few exceptions, they’re trading (to use the analogy again) dollars for dimes as marketers shift from print to online advertising. Publishers are largely to blame, as so many kicked off their Web presences as added value (e.g., free) to print advertisers or made it dirt cheap in the beginning. Their online properties should be generating more revenue today, and in more and more cases they are. One savvy industry publisher told me recently it’s now very close to a dollars-to-dollars relationship. But, still, this doesn’t solve the shift from advertising in general to PR, although web-centric industry news sources can operate much more cheaply and efficiently (no paper, ink or postage). I still feel sorry, though, for that pained editor and the difficulty she was having then, and must be having now, in recruiting and retaining staff when the same marketers who used to buy ads to announce the next new big thing now just want to pay PR people to talk to her reporters about their latest and greatest.