Michael Skoler, the executive director (on leave) from the Center for Innovation in Journalism, provides an essential 12-minute incantation of the necessity to change newsroom culture. It's an excellent and convincing urge to look beyond business model change from the Nieman Journalism Lab.
Great video, Kirk -- thanks for posting it (and tweeting it). I personally believe that with the sheer volume of content that is out here on the web, people *are* looking for trusted resources and that 'link journalism' does play a role in furthering that... and thereby furthering the brand and trustworthiness of mainstream (and *new* mainstream) media. The more journalists on Twitter, the better. And, on that note, I know many, myself included, that don't automatically appreciate the value of mainstream media (ie., newspapers) who "push" tweets but aren't 'following' anyone.
Fantastic video, though I would've loved to have heard more about how we can change the corporate culture within newsrooms. Journalists are waking up to the changes taking place within media, information, the public, and technology. But I don't think we've done a good job of building media workplaces that reflect and embrace those changes. I'd love to hear your thoughts, Kirk.
Yes, I echo Craig's comment above, how to *really* make it happen: in some ways, technology solutions are relatively the easy answer, but not *the* answer. As was said, they're tools. There's linkages to HR, and an open and ongoing culture/acceptance of training and development ...
I don't think there's any question that much more is needed to help us understand the seismic shifts in the economics and ecology of newsgathering. What we're experiencing has no precedent, and the fact that the heaviest lifting of all will be done in the most serious economic crisis in the last 80 years makes the challenge all that more serious and vexing. My own sense is that the advertising piece has to be better understood. I don't think the problems are as deep with the journalism; rather, it's the challenge of building some new economic strength and sustainability within newsgathering groups to ensure they're capable of investigating. Yes, there are many transformational challenges remaining for journalism, including many organizations that still don't get it. But that's not as significant as the fact that, even with the ones who do get it, there is a very difficult economic model greeting them in their transition.
I agree that the concept of journalism is a lasting one, but that doesn't guarantee the success of the journalism-as it-has-been model. The key for me these days is that a lot of the changes taking place aren't being instigated by journalists. We're reacting, and, in some cases, flailing. We should also be careful about waiting to see what advertisers will pay for. (Not sure if this is what you meant by the advertising piece, Kirk.) A few hundred years ago, people started to print what we now called newspapers. Over a period of time, newspapers built an audience and advertisers wanted that audience. The relationship with the audience is why publishers could dictate a lot of what advertisers could and couldn't do within a paper. If we cede too much control to advertisers by chasing what is undoubtedly a shrinking pool of money (for the time being), then we're going to have a very different ad/edit relationship. And the audience isn't going to want anything to do with us. They will trust us even less than they do right now. As Jeff Jarvis would say, we should be thinking about ceding some control to the public (or what Jay Rosen calls "the people formerly known as the audience"). The changes are happening all around us journalists; I hope we can do a better job of driving them.
I'm not suggesting anyone wait for what advertisers will support. I just think that there needs to be work done on ad models in the digital space --- at the moment we're applying almost all the effort on the editorial content side. No question, Craig, the audience wants in and journalism hasn't been an accessible institution. Agreed, if we build a good new model, people and their support will follow.
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