Eric Eikrem’s Blog

We need news, proper news, the results of professional investigative reporting. We need it now more than ever. Why? Due to the climate change and local, regional environmental destruction and global demographics, we have extremely turbulent times ahead. In fact, they have already started.

In this situation, the much reported decline of quality journalism is – to say the least – lamentable [fr1, fr2]. The so-called citizen journalism is no replacement for professional investigative reporting. But unlike the latter, professional journalists need to get paid. Maintaining and even expanding investigative reporting is possible, even with reduced sales of advertising space, but only if news media comes to grip with the new reality in terms of production, presentation and distribution.

A Period of Transition

Harold Evans, giving an interview on BBC World News on journalism and the current state of affairs pointed out that we are in a period of transition, and he is convinced that quality journalism will prevail [en1]. But how long will this transition last? And what will be destroyed in the meantime?

Although the Internet has been around for a while – it is now 40 years since it’s initial conception – , but we are still in a period of transition in terms of production, distribution, presentation, earnings and the distribution of earnings. Right now, transport and search are profitable, while creating content is not [es1]. This is not a tenable situation. I believe that the mayor changes we will see – in the relatively short term – are the way news are produced and the business model as such; news media must take to heart that there will be less revenue per accessed piece of content.

Production, Distribution and Presentation

I love the art of printing, and it’s regrettable that traditional printing on paper will cease, but investigative journalism cannot be sacrificed on the altar of tradition. It is more important than the means by which it is distributed. To make up for less revenue overall, everything between the journalist and the reader / user /viewer must be kept to a minimum in terms of costs. That means letting go of paper and cutting all administrative costs.

Another change that is badly needed is the way journalistic content is presented. To a large extent, presentation is still being done the old way; paper media and television on the web.

• Interaction: Right now, the most common interaction offered in mainstream media is the possibility to comment on and rate articles.

• Is that satisfactory for the digital generation? I doubt it. New ways of involvement must be found, keeping in mind that ” Thine users are smarter than thou.” (their collective competence is much more comprehensive than yours).

• Interconnection: Connecting content to other content, location, time, popularity… An example of connecting content to location is EveryBlock, one of the winners of BusinessWeek‘s 2009 innovation contest.

• Real-time: Enabling the user to experience the story as it is developing – showing work in progress.

• Fragmentation: All the different channels has to be taken into account, in particular mobile units. This will be a real challenge, as you may expect the number of different devices to keep increasing.

• Experiencing the same content in different ways: Providing different media for the same story. Providing different views of the same story based on a time-line, popularity of pieces of the story, the related points in time, it’s popularity, it’s quality, and so forth.

• Providing translations of the story, thus making it available to a greater audience.

• Graphical presentations: Enabling graphic presentation of a story through various means, including interconnections.

More Journalism, Less News

In a recent article in Le Monde [fr2], the writer and commentator Claude Arnaud, laments the lack of depth of Internet content, and it’s consequences in terms of critical reading and learning. But what came first? The combination of the way content is currently presented on the Internet and the lack of investigative reporting, or many people’s – especially the native generation’s – inability to gain an in-depth understanding of an issue via Internet content? This is likely to change if the presentation (perhaps as outlined above) and the quality of the content improves.

What I can search Google – the data, facts, stock quotes… – are not interesting, while analysis, interpretation, opinion, creativity, anticipation are. Thus, I think the press will be more based on talent rather than on quantity. The news as a genre will be less common and there will be more journalism. Alfonso Sánchez-Tabernero [gl3, es3]

The Business Model

A business model based on charging for online content is – by an large – not a viable option right now, despite Mr. Murdoch‘s belief to the contrary [en2, fr5]. It’s a Catch-22; Too little is spent on the actual content, that is, journalistic work (investigating, writing, video shots, drawing, whatever…). Thus, the content presents little or no additional value to the user compared to free content. The result is not unique enough to differentiate it from the free Internet content soup, and most users are not willing to pay for it. The lack of paying customers, together with falling advertising revenues, makes media companies cut down on staff, thus worsening the quality of the product, making it even less attractive, and so forth.

Right now, only some 6 % of users are willing to pay for content [en1]. That number is likely to increase with targeted, added value content. One example, that is already paid content, is unique content that is clearly of added value to the user; in-depth analysis for various business sectors. Moreover, 6 % may be a sufficient number if all costs – not related to quality – are kept low.

Another element that may play a role in the future are subsidies. The press in several countries – for instance Norway, Sweden and France [gl1] – is already receiving subsidies. Even members of the American press is calling for subsidies [en4], and that call might be answered by the current administration. However, there is a danger associated with subsidies; that the press – becoming dependent on these funds – loses objectivity in favour of those holding the bag of money. Several state-owned broadcasting corporations have been accused of this in the past. Moreover, there are some blatant examples were that was undoubtedly the case, for instance the TVE‘s reporting of the M-11 bombings in Madrid.

A major part of the money earned must flow to where the content is created, that is, to journalists and other professional content creators. This is the only way to ensure quality content in the long term. Right now, there is a lot of talent that either have nothing to do, or are underpaid. Lots of experienced journalists are presently joining the unemployment line. Moreover, many junior staff members, having competence on “new” media, are let go due to seniority [no1]. Freelancers are even worse off; excellent freelance photojournalists – the likes of David Burnett or Patrick Aventurier – have a very hard time getting sensible assignments, just at the time when photos are used more than ever [fr3, fr4].

The reason we have not gone to newspapers is because its a slow growth industry and I think they are dying. I’m not sure there will be newspapers in 10 years. I read newspapers every day. I even read Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal. Sumner Redstone [en3]

References

In English (en):

1. Harold Evans on journalism’s future, online excerpt from BBC World, 6 October 2009.

2. Rupert Murdoch: Let’s Charge for Online Content Again, by Frederic Lardinois, ReadWriteWeb, May 7, 2009.

3. Redstone says U.S. on brink of bull market, by James Pethokoukis, April 29, 2009.

4. Yes, journalists deserve subsidies too, by Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols Friday, The Washington Post October 30, 2009.

En français (fr):

1. Photojournalism: Trying times, (fr: “Photojournalisme: Le temps des épreuves”), by Claire Guillot, Le Monde, paper edition,September 7, 2009. Online paid article available here.

2. The flipside of the Web, (fr: “L’envers de la Toile”), by Claude Arnaud, Le Monde, paper edition,September 7, 2009. Online paid article available here.

3. Internet and the economics of advertising are forcing the American press to rethink, (fr: “Internet et conjoncture publicitaire obligent la presse américaine à se repenser”), by Xavier Ternisien, Le Monde, May 12, 2009. Online paid article available here.

4. The purchase of “BusinessWeek” illustrates the crisis of American magazines, (fr: “Le rachat de « BusinessWeek » illustre la crise des magazines américains“), by Xavier Ternisien, Le Monde, October 16, 2009.

5. The new fad of Mr. Murdoch: charging for online press, (fr: “La nouvelle lubie de M. Murdoch : faire payer la presse en ligne”), by Una Galani, Le Monde, August 8, 2009. Online paid article available here.

En galego (gl):

1. Sarkozy lauches a series of measures to reform and support the written press (gl: “Sarkozy lanza unha serie de medidas para reformar e apoiar á prensa escrita“), by EFE, La Voz de Galicia, January 1, 2009.

2. The printed press will be converted into a medium for the elites, (gl: “A prensa impresa converterase nun medio orientado ás elites“), interview with Ramón Salaverría, La Voz de Galicia, March 8, 2009.

3. I believe there will be a reduction in nespapers in Galicia and in Spain (gl: «Creo que haberá unha redución de xornais en Galicia e en España»), interview with Alfonso Sánchez-Tabernero, La Voz de Galicia, September 9, 2009.

På norsk (no):

1. The Media Crisis, (no: “Mediekrisen”), by Lars Richard Bache, paper edition, Dagens Næringsliv

En español (es):

1. Connectivity is King; The real value is in not in providing content, but in transporting it (es: “La reina es la conectividad -El valor auténtico no está en proveer contenidos, sino en transportarlos”), by Robert Cyran, El País, November 1, 2009.

2. The printed press will be converted into a medium for the elites, (gl:«La prensa impresa se convertirá en un medio orientado a las élites»), interview with Ramón Salaverría, La Voz de Galicia, March 8, 2009.

3. I believe there will be a reduction in nespapers in Galicia and in Spain (es: «Creo que habrá una reducción de periódicos en Galicia y en España»), interview with Alfonso Sánchez-Tabernero, La Voz de Galicia, September 9, 2009.

External Links

In English (en):

• BBC World News
• BusinessWeek
• The Washington Post
• EveryBlock
• The Official Harold Evans Website
• Robert Cyran at Journalisted
• Una Galani at Journalisted
• Ben Terrett‘s blog
• David Burnett‘s site
• Robert W. McChesney‘s blog
• John Nichols in the Nation

En français (fr):

• Le Monde

• Claude Arnaud‘s website

En galego (gl):

• La Voz de Galicia

På norsk (no):

• Dagens Næringsliv

En español (es):

• Ramón Salaverría’s blog
• La Voz de Galicia