Main challenges in the news industry

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Cassiano Gobbet

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Jun 13, 2013, 4:16:39 PM6/13/13
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Hello;

My name is Cassiano and I am, as one might suppose, a journalist. My main background is indigital media as well as my MA in Multimedia. I was led into the site after an advice from Tom Atlee who cordially replied to one of my emails, so, here I am.

I am looking into many issues of media environment after digital revolution, that I will certainly be able to discuss here in the future. But before that, I'd like to have some help from you in order to guide one of the issues I am working on.

The first thing: if each of you had to choose the three main challenges of media and journalism, which would they be? I won't say more as I don't want to bias the discussion. I'd be very glad to hear your answers.

The second thing would be to have your help filling this little survey about news and media credibility. Please spread this as much as possible, especially into non-journalists audiences as I believe the issue is global.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LBDFR3Z

In the mean time, pleased to meet you all and my best wishes

Cassiano


Josh Wolf

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Jun 15, 2013, 2:33:43 AM6/15/13
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Hey Cassiano,

Welcome to JTM. This Google Group is sometimes quite active but definitely has its lulls as well.

In regards to your question, I would say the three main challenges facing the news business are revenue, trust, and comprehensive coverage. But that last one is kind've a throw-away because if there was still sufficient revenue, I don't think it's absurd to assume that news publications would then be able to provide both broader coverage while also offering more in-depth reporting.

Best,

Josh

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Cassiano Gobbet

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Jun 16, 2013, 9:11:03 PM6/16/13
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Josh, thanks for the reply. I understand the "lull-ness" of these grous. Sometines we have so many activities happening simultaneously that we really forget of some of them.

I totally afree with you - these are my three main ones, but I believe that, somehow, the first and the last will find a way. There is a reset in the media environment and I tend to believe that as it happens in many other industries, the major corporations will be a less present character in the future, as the smaller media companies will find it easier to survive as they don't have aggregated costs to pay for.

Trust, however, is a different animal. We go for big brands (even if reluctantly) because there is a common sense that they are less risky to believe than a random smaller media or blog. So, this has been my main challenge - to think how would it be possible to empower smaller media to become credible an reliable in the eyes of the big audiences. That's why I made the survey: I had some premises and I want to check if they happen to be true.

As far as it goes, I believe that a new scenario can emerge (one where smaller media have more space) not because mankind is enhanced and we want to have a more democratic media, but because smaller companies are easier to stay afloat with short budgets. I mean: this, supposing that we fill this "trust" gap.

So, thanks for the answer. As my research goes further, I will make updates here. And if you know a killer programmer interested in the issue, please let me know. I will be more than glad to hear about it.

My best wishes

Cassiano


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Cassiano Gobbet
cassian...@gmail.com


       

Tom Stites

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Jun 16, 2013, 11:46:04 PM6/16/13
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In pursuit of trust, you might also give some thought to cooperative ownership, which is the most trustworthy of all ownership forms.  The Banyan Project has put a lot of thought into this: BanyanProject.coop.

Tom Stites  

John Hamer

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Jun 17, 2013, 12:54:17 AM6/17/13
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Cassiano --

You might also give some thought to taking the "TAO of Journalism" Pledge to be Transparent, Accountable and Open, and posting the TAO Seal on your site, as Tom Stites has done with the Banyan Project. This is a completely voluntary pledge and self-affixed seal that anyone committing acts of journalism anywhere in the world can use as a way to earn trust and build credibility with readers, viewers and listeners. It's no panacea, but it can help.

For details on how it works and to take the pledge, see http://taoofjournalism.org  

This started at a JTM conference in Washington, D.C., and has spread slowly but steadily around the globe in the past few years -- especially among individual bloggers, small media organizations and student journalists. As we say, just TAO it!

John Hamer (206.262.9793)
President and Executive Director
Washington News Council, Seattle

Cassiano Gobbet

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Jun 17, 2013, 7:49:00 AM6/17/13
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Tom and John, good morning;

I already know both Banyan Project and the Tao Pledge. Actually, I first heard the concept of "news desert" reading a post of Tom in the NiemanLab, if I am not wrong (that's how I found the Banyan Project). The concept of "news desert" is a major influence in the research I am doing as I think that not only the "desertificated" areas are left without news coverage, something that obviously hinders its population in all senses - from economic to educational issues - but also is a damage to global news coverage.

If there are no journalists regularly covering the area, in the happening of a major news event (an earthquake, flood, famine, social unrest), usually the coverage is made by someone completely unattached of the surrounding context and therefore, more likely to make distorted interpretations of what's happening.

The TAO pledge is certainly something that I will be looking to add within my plans. I am a firm believer that in the future, this kind of initiative will be in the core of this new media scenario we will have. That's why I've been dedicating so much time researching and studying (not in my working hours). 

Finally, mentioning the relationship between trust and cooperation, actually this is exactly how I feel that this new scenario will rise from. I don't believe that all big journalism brands will die, but a new class of news 'animal' will become feasible when it would be easier for the audience to trust a media they've never heard about - but others did. If there is interest from some of you, I would be glad to report the main lines of the idea. That's why I am looking for a programmer - I am sure that it would be far, far easier to explain even easier to spot where are the flaws if I had a beta version of it working…

Major thanks for you all for the input. Other than the help itself, writing about it helps me a lot to think more about it.

My best wishes

Cassiano Gobbet
cassian...@gmail.com


       


MFerrier

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Aug 21, 2013, 9:12:11 AM8/21/13
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Cassiano,
I am working on research for "media deserts" which expands the concept of news deserts along several different levels. The project looks at the penetration of media outlets and their geographic reach to determine whether it is lack of content or conduits that hinders news delivery in a region. If you would like more information, please check out this summary and contact me at ferr...@ohio.edu.


Dr. Michelle Ferrier
Associate Dean for Innovation
Scripps College of Communication
Ohio University
Cassiano --


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