Newspaper Industry Problems

On Friday, i played devil’s advocate in front of a group of newspaper editors, journalists, and professional wordsmiths. What are newspapers doing right? What are newspapers doing wrong? I thought I hit the “Record” button on my live stream, but that turned out not to be the case (at least, there’s no record of it in “My Stuff”). No matter, it seems the video and audio flaked out halfway through the presentation. I was only able to caputre the relevant portions from our chat room backchannel (which was also projected on the screen behind me):

• <@LordKaT> What are they doing right or wrong? They’ve got the content down to a T, but they really fail to grasp the concept of “the conversation” and allowing that conversation to grow and expand.
• <+crypticsamurai> srry old media is dead
• <+CryptoVenom> killing trees
• <+Genuine> we loved the coupons on Sunday
• <+KtecK> old media kills nature… when you take your newspapers online dont do it NY times style.
• <+MissM> I like newspapers for local news the best.
• <+Pirillotron984> ignoring the third world suffering
• <+Universal> Newspapers are better for local news
• <+Universal> Newspapers don’t update themselfs
• <+KtecK> yea… internet is better for international news
• <+Universal> Digg killed the newspaper :-)
• <+crypticsamurai> digg hasn’t killed the newspaper, but it is killing it
• <+im_a_pickle> to many kids on sites like digg
• <+KtecK> digg is not that bad… it is kinda crude at times but its the future of media
• <+KtecK> id rather listen to twit.tv rather than old media
• <+KtecK> podcasts have helped kill old media
• <+MissM> I totally agree KtecK, and broadcast media.
• <+MissM> I was impressed about the hd-dvd code coverage, I look forward to seeing Calcanis cast 26, he talks to Jay and EFF
• <+Pirillotron984> Media outlets can be bought blogs can not
• <+Universal> Digg killed tv news, etc
• <@LordKaT> StumbleUpon drives an insane amount of traffic. Especially for a humor site
• <+crypticsamurai> I have 487 rss feads and I still use stumble upon
• <+KtecK> old media had its place pre web but the web has gradually pushed out the old media sources in favor of new controlable sources
• <+Universal> All the news you will ever need is 600 RSS feeds and digg.
• <@LordKaT> It allows for greater interaction with the audience. It creates a closer connection between the reader and the producer, and even blurrs the lines between reader and producer.
• <+KtecK> yea… i got a full google reader
• <+MissM> It democratizes media, in one respect. I believe
• <+crypticsamurai> yea but it boils down to how much can you trust digg
• <+Genuine0> I read about 1300 feeds a day
• <+KtecK> i always take every digg story with a grain of salt
• <+KtecK> I monitor 59 feeds in my google reader it has replaced tv and newspapers
• <+Universal> Digg gets news faster than tv and print
• <@LordKaT> Eventually, the newspapers are going to have to acknowledge that the users are the ones who are going to define what the content is, not their editors/beat writers/etc
• <+crypticsamurai> well yes that’s true but common sense is not common
• <+Genuine0> diggnation has too much control over the stuff that gets popular
• <+Genuine0> they can bury and promote too easily
• <+KtecK> * /. in some ways is more trust worthy
• <+Pirillotron984> old media is corrupt check out o 2019reilly & fox
• <+Universal> You have to use common sense when using digg
• <+KtecK> Newspaper is a hard to read format…. big sheets of paper are not easy to hold
• <+Universal> If users on digg aren’t trustworthy, they are simply buried
• <@LordKaT> Genuine, there’s a link there called “Reload video” hit that
• <@LordKaT> im_a_pickle, copyright infringment is not stealing
• <@LordKaT> you don’t need to constantly reload the page.
• <+crypticsamurai> no I think digg is much more trust worthy than wikipedia
• <+im_a_pickle> i got a ? why do people think stealing stuff off the net is not stealing
• <+im_a_pickle> like stealing software instead of paying for it
• <+KtecK> but the way that the new york times has taken is kinda low… forcing registration to get access to old stores
• <+Universal> Digg is a lot like wikipedia when users submit content, the good stuff gets buried and the worthy stuff gets promoted
• <+Universal> There are a lot of dedicated users on digg, just like wikipedia
• <@LordKaT> The conversaton happens because it’s what people want, but it’s nutured and grown because it helps build a brand and build a business.
• <+crypticsamurai> yes but on wikipedia it only takes one user to rune a hole page
• <+Universal> crypic: but 5 seconds later the content is restored by dedicated users
• <@LordKaT> im_a_pickle, please stop calling it stealing. It’s copyright infringment ;)
• <+crypticsamurai> yea but what about the times it isn’t and you know that happens
• <+im_a_pickle> like if you steal software can i come into your house and steal frome u same thing
• <+KtecK> user posts wrong news… it gets dugg down to nothing
• <+MoeLassus> digg may not be perfect but the contribution it has made toward the democratization of news content cannot be understated
• <+crypticsamurai> I never said digg was bad all i’m saying is you must use common sence
• <+im_a_pickle> as a kid i was told stealing is rong
• <+im_a_pickle> same thing with dl dvds and not paying for them its stealing
• <+KtecK> i use common sense on all news sources
• <+KtecK> in the hd dvd war digg played a major role
• <+MissM> tech content more, I’d say MoeLassus
• <+MissM> the news part is too new, imo
• <+MoeLassus> A lot of the content is still crap. =)
• <+MoeLassus> more so in the way it’s done, not in the content itself
• <+crypticsamurai> well anymore you have to, but common sense is not always ” common”
• <+MissM> riverbendblog.blogspot.com/ Girl Blog from Iraq… let’s talk war, politics and occupation.
• <+crypticsamurai> but in websites like wikipedia all it takes is a few people to talk it as the truth and it is off
• <+Pirillotron984> Journalism is dead the public are the reporters
• <+Universal> There have been bad content on the front page of digg, but only to be buried quickly
• <+crypticsamurai> well that is why there is “justice” on digg unlike wikipedia
• <+KtecK> The users are the new press sources
• <+MissM> I thought digg’s system was supposed to bury it long before it hit the front page
• <+MoeLassus> Problem with Digg is that very little of the content is original, it’s a regurgitation of other people’s content
• <@LordKaT> MoeLassus, Digg is just really an aggregator. The real problem is the blogspam on digg.
• <+crypticsamurai> let’s just agree there is bad in both wikipedia and digg
• <+MissM> no 984, reporting is a skill. Anybody can contribute (tip line vs. email), but the real skill is research and communication.
• <+im_a_pickle> the internet is making people lazy
• <+CharlieM> internet is destroying the social fabric of society…..Long Live the Internet
• <+im_a_pickle> when i was a kid i played out side every day the kids today only sit on the computer
• <+Universal> most serious digg users utilize digg’s reporting features to keep th content good
• <+MissM> Is there a market out of the top 10 that has more than two newspapers?
• <+MissM> more than one, I mean.
• <+Universal> If Microsoft buys Yahoo, Apple should buy Google :-)

So, it seems these geeks were comparing newspapers to Digg - which isn’t a surprise. I wish some of the professionals from my session would comment on this post, because they’re the ones living in the thick of an industry that’s undergoing a metamorphosis. However, I’m not expecting anything other than comments from bloggers or journalists who also blog.