Media 2.0
Traditional media and the wisdom of the
masses
The editors and writers of newspapers are
worried – and they should be: The circulations of their newspapers are
stagnating, even worse, it seems like the newspaper business is not lucrative
anymore. Investments are on hold. Publishers don't miss any opportunities to
remind their employees about the financial side of their business: it is a
business and it should generate profits. The journalists on the other side don't
miss a chance to remind their publishers and investors about the role of
journalism and newspapers: to be the fourth power in a democratic
system.
As a result of this struggle between financial and social goals, the newspaper industry is changing at a rapid speed. A lot of publishing companies are not investing in their editorial staff anymore, positions won't get refilled, the budgets for investigative journalism are cut, and much more content is being bought and syndicated among several titles. However, the Internet is affecting the overall equation between social obligation and private profit, which seemed to have worked so well for many decades.
The Internet effect
The Internet affects traditional media in two ways: it provides fast access to news and opinions. While newspapers and magazines learned over the last 10 years that they should focus less on the news itself and more on commenting news and putting news in a context, the Internet evolved. Now, journalism has to proof itself against blogs – written and driven by amateurs. With no or only minor financial interests the wisdom of the masses, provided by the Internet bloggers, is challenging the professional writers and editors roles. Commenting news is no longer a privilege of the traditional media. While expressing (publishing?) opinions to the masses is getting easier, creating rumors, and accusing others without any evidence are the negative side effects of this trend.
Even so it looks like that newspapers and their journalists are fighting a lost battle, it also seems that the Internet, as a voice of (some of) the people, is introducing a fifth power: control of the professional media. Of course, this reminds one of the question of the power of an elite: Is control by an elite, if the internet audience qualifies as elite, good enough to keep the balance between people's will and their executive in a democratic system? This reminds us of the times, when access to printed newspapers or even books was a privilege, when books were published in Latin to strengthen the control by the elite. Despite representing only a minority, the system of opportunities, checks and balances is also a health part of pluralistic societies.
Blogs give members of diverse ethnic, racial, religious, or social groups the opportunity to voice their opinions. It is up to the traditional media to discover subjects besides the mainstream, to work with blogs instead of being afraid of them. Bottom-line, blogs with high quality will survive and are a necessary factor to express opinions in a world where media seems to have lost some of it qualities.
The TV lesson
The Internet effect has also a positive effect on traditional media: It unites investors and writers in their quest to improve their reach. Both are being challenged to improve the quality of their medium. Furthermore, print media has a unique chance to learn from mistakes of the TV media. Improving their reach by measuring viewers attention and quotes would steer print media down the alley of mono-thematic, low-quality content. That would be the opposite of what blogs and pluralistic societies are about.
As a result of this struggle between financial and social goals, the newspaper industry is changing at a rapid speed. A lot of publishing companies are not investing in their editorial staff anymore, positions won't get refilled, the budgets for investigative journalism are cut, and much more content is being bought and syndicated among several titles. However, the Internet is affecting the overall equation between social obligation and private profit, which seemed to have worked so well for many decades.
The Internet effect
The Internet affects traditional media in two ways: it provides fast access to news and opinions. While newspapers and magazines learned over the last 10 years that they should focus less on the news itself and more on commenting news and putting news in a context, the Internet evolved. Now, journalism has to proof itself against blogs – written and driven by amateurs. With no or only minor financial interests the wisdom of the masses, provided by the Internet bloggers, is challenging the professional writers and editors roles. Commenting news is no longer a privilege of the traditional media. While expressing (publishing?) opinions to the masses is getting easier, creating rumors, and accusing others without any evidence are the negative side effects of this trend.
Even so it looks like that newspapers and their journalists are fighting a lost battle, it also seems that the Internet, as a voice of (some of) the people, is introducing a fifth power: control of the professional media. Of course, this reminds one of the question of the power of an elite: Is control by an elite, if the internet audience qualifies as elite, good enough to keep the balance between people's will and their executive in a democratic system? This reminds us of the times, when access to printed newspapers or even books was a privilege, when books were published in Latin to strengthen the control by the elite. Despite representing only a minority, the system of opportunities, checks and balances is also a health part of pluralistic societies.
Blogs give members of diverse ethnic, racial, religious, or social groups the opportunity to voice their opinions. It is up to the traditional media to discover subjects besides the mainstream, to work with blogs instead of being afraid of them. Bottom-line, blogs with high quality will survive and are a necessary factor to express opinions in a world where media seems to have lost some of it qualities.
The TV lesson
The Internet effect has also a positive effect on traditional media: It unites investors and writers in their quest to improve their reach. Both are being challenged to improve the quality of their medium. Furthermore, print media has a unique chance to learn from mistakes of the TV media. Improving their reach by measuring viewers attention and quotes would steer print media down the alley of mono-thematic, low-quality content. That would be the opposite of what blogs and pluralistic societies are about.
Posted: Sun - April 2, 2006 at 11:41 AM |
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Published On: Apr 10, 2006 09:50 PM
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Published On: Apr 10, 2006 09:50 PM