12 changes in Media

20 Feb

We Media will kick off next week in Miami. I will be on a panel with the AP folks and others talking about the new relationship between traditional journalists and emerging non-professionals. I will also be talking about our product plans for the next 6 months and how I think they will change the business. In the meantime the good people at IFOCOS have put together a paper that, among other things, outlines 12 things that are changing the media landscape.

MEDIA CATHARSIS. Through personal media, people express sorrow and grief, connect
with one another, schedule services and vigils, form support groups.

SOCIAL NETWORKS: THE NEW LOCAL. Community redefined. Shared interests extend beyond physical borders. Geography is no longer a barrier to participation. Content is created and shared as part of a community’s social currency.

CONTRIBUTION CULTURE. Anyone can contribute to the news/information agenda or participate in the conversation. We share facts, comment, analysis, images, music.

REAL-TIME SOCIOLOGY. The science of observing societal habits and behaviors is expressed and recorded as we use pervasive media.

DERIVATIVE MYTH DEBUNKED. Everyone creates the news. Much of what is created is used and recast by traditional news outlets. Only a small percentage — less than one percent — of all news on the Internet derives from newspapers.

THE NEWS SPIRAL & THE ORGANIC STORY ARC. News tumbles through a connected society, spiraling through media, changing as it goes, an organic story with no beginning, middle or end. What seems chaotic is actually a story arc that assumes clarity, context and meaning as it unfolds through a proliferation of sources, many accessible to anyone. The days of once-a-day publishing cycles and scheduled news broadcasts are mere supplements to a continuous stream of news and information available any time through a variety of sources and ubiquitous devices. No one owns a story.

THE MANIC MAINSTREAM. After a decade of denial, suddenly the web looks less like a threat to old media and more like a resource it can easily exploit. News outlets plunder material posted on the web as they pump their own content into the online ether.

RESPONSIBLE DISCLOSURE. A fine line emerges between full disclosure and exploitation. Television networks cross the line by showing too much of a killer’s multi-media rants too often. Good will is lost as backlash ensues.

A PLACE FOR NEWS TO HAPPEN. The Internet becomes more than merely a first draft of history. It becomes a place were news happens in real time.

SNOOZEPAPERS. A day late and many developments short, the dead-tree medium is relegated to yesterday’s news tomorrow. News organizations publish to their websites first.

DEMOCRATIZATION OF MEDIA. A vision achieved: A free press belongs to everyone, not just those who own one.

PROLIFERATION OF SOURCES. The privileged source, so coveted and protected by professional journalists, can either publish directly now or choose from a variety of outlets to get a story out.

Source: ifocos.org via mtippett