By Emma Loving Ian Trai l Hannah LaMond Introduction In a dramatic one year period Americans consumption of online news increased by 171 percent local network and cable television newspapers audio and magazines experienced declines ID: 729146
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Slide1
Chapter Two: Convergence, Citizen Journalism, and Emerging Media
By Emma Loving, Ian Trai
l
, Hannah LaMondSlide2
Introduction
In a dramatic one year period, Americans’ consumption of online news increased by 17.1 percent → local network and cable television, newspapers, audio, and magazines experienced declines
However, Americans are spending more time with news than ever beforeSlide3
How People Consume News Today
The readership of news on mobile devices is exploding as smartphones become the norm
Tablets (Ipad) and the Newsstand App provided immediacy and convenience
Pew study (2010) showed trends:
47% of Americans get news on a mobile devices
The growth of mobile is inevitable (Smartphones make up the majority of cell phones)
By Jan. 2011, 7% of Americans reported owning a tablet (a percentage that double from 4 months earlierSlide4
How People Connect News Today (Cont.)
For the first time, more people reported getting news from the Internet than from newspapers
The Internet trails only television as a source of news
Ad revenue for online sites surpassed ad revenue for newspapers for the first time in history
So the problem facing the media industry is not that people are using media less frequently → The problem is media fragmentation, fueled by both the proliferation of media outlets and the emergence of new media forms such as smartphones and tablets Slide5
The Impact of Media Fragmentation on Legacy Media
“Newspapers and television are not going to vanish in the foreseeable future…” -Leonard Downie Jr., Michael Schudson
“...what should be done to shape this new landscape, to help assure that the essential elements of independent, original, and credible news reporting are preserved?” -Leonard Downie Jr., Michael Schudson
The developments highlighted in the Pew study have led to dramatic shifts in media consumption patterns that in turn have shaken the foundations of media corporation financing
Because there are far more places to get news, the audience has changed dramatically as wellSlide6
Types of News Audiences
4 types of audiences:
Traditionalists:
older, less affluent and not as well-educated as the typical news consumer
consume television news
because they understand best by seeing pictures
have a strong interest in weather, low interest in science and technology news
few get news online
makes up 46% of population, age 52Slide7
Types of News Audiences (Cont.)
Integrators:
well-educated, affluent, and mostly middle-aged people
get news from both legacy media and Internet
more engaged in public affairs
more sophisticated and sought after by advertisers
TV is considered an old source of news for this group
makes up 23% of the publicSlide8
Types of News Audiences (Cont.)
Net-Newsers:
Affluent, well-educated, and relatively young
members are more likely to
read political blogs and Internet sources than watch network news
frequent online news viewers and heavy technology users and have a strong interest in technology news
makes up 13% of public (52% are men)Slide9
Types of News Audiences (Cont.)
The Disengaged:
Low levels of news interest and news consumption
14 % of the public
These segments account for 96% of the public
2% did not name either tradition source or Internet as their main news source
2% named Internet as a main source but rarely go online for newsSlide10
Can Television and the Internet Replace Newspaper Reporting?
The most telling about the numbers in the Pew Study is that
no single group of consumers leans towards newspapers as a primary source of news → TV and Internet dominate
However, the
15 most popular US news sites are operated by legacy media
, and those that are not get most of their news from the legacy media
Both TV and Internet have credibility problems
what’s news and opinion
determining the veracity
Citizens want to participate in in journalism (citizen journalism) and others want to engage the journalist makes Internet more applicableSlide11
Distrust of the Media
The shift in media consumption patterns can be traced to the
public’s increasing distrust of the legacy media
Trust in the media (especially legacy media) has fallen with less than 30 percent of people saying they believe the major news organization’s reporting
Public opinion of the fairness of the media has also suffered
Fairness has decreased drastically as well with only 18 percent of people in 2009 believing the media is fair, opposed to 34 percent in 1985Slide12
Distrust in the Media (Cont.)
This distrust could have come from a multitude of reasons
People fail to distinguish between reporters (news) and columnists (opinion)
reduced staffing (from lack of newspapers) lead to declined ability to ensure accuracy
journalists moved away from fact-based writing to stylized/descriptive writing
on TV, lines blur between news programs, and talk shows
TV and radio are dominated by right-wing and left-wing programs
news coverage itself is tilted to the left or right depending on the political slant of the media outlet
Although the public shows distrust in the news many of them have no problem in consuming their favorite station as about 70 percent enjoy the particular station they watchSlide13
Financial Challenges to Legacy Media
The growth in the number of media outlets has sliced audiences into smaller and smaller fragments
Each new media industry takes ad revenue from the traditional legacy media
Newspapers are costly to produce
Classified advertising, a longtime moneymaker for newspapers, has been devastated by websites like craiglist especially help wanted
Newspapers are manufactured products that consume large amounts of expensive paper and ink
They are labor intensive in both news, and printing and distributing
They are an increasingly inefficient and costly way to deliver newsSlide14
Convergence as a Response to Media Fragmentation
As shifting media consumption patterns upset the business models of news companies, many are responding by
expanding their product offerings
and shifting their emphasis away from legacy media and into growth areas, particularly the Internet
If people want to read news on the Web and mobile phones, news companies intend to provide that option
This is called
convergence
: the coordination of print, broadcast, and online reporting in a news operation →
consumers should be able to get news on their terms (however and whenever they want)
Sometimes, Web-based newscasts contain material that didn’t make into the traditional newscast → so consumers can have and be linked to more information than they would have otherwiseSlide15
Enhanced Web Coverage
Many news operations are thinking
“Web first” meaning they are breaking news
online first as much as they can
Many newspapers have become Web-first, 24-hour-a-day operations that embrace citizen journalism
If someone in the public comes up with a story before a reporter, so be it
Progressive news organizations are also
embracing
s
ocial media
(Facebook, Twitter)
for
three primary goals:
To drive traffic to their websites, which in turn enhances their ability to sell ads on those websites
To engage readers and viewers in a conversation about the news in yet another effort to draw traffic to their sites
To find readers and viewers willing to help solve a problem or to assist others in needSlide16
Enhanced Web Coverage (Cont.)
Many reporters and editors now have Twitter accounts and spend more and more time exchanging messages with readers and viewers.
The old model, in which reporters and editors published or broadcast a product and readers and viewers then consumed it, is a thing of the past
Today,
readers and viewers expect to be part of the discussion
, and they have more ways than ever to react to a storySlide17
Synchronized Media Coverage
Convergence
Occurs when a newspaper or television station starts publishing material on the Internet
Occurs when print reporters start carrying digital voice recorders and produce material for podcast as well as for print, or when reporters use a video camera for a press conference
Involves alliance of four communication forms:
text
,
video/audio
,
the Web
,
mobile phones/tablets/computers
Videos on newspapers’ websites, breaking news notifications, apps, graphicsSlide18
Newspapers: The Source of Most News
Most of the information found on content aggregators often
originated with newspapers
An estimated 85 percent of the news Americans consume originates at newspapers
Spot News
:
breaking news that occurred today
Citizen journalists are bound to report breaking stories, but that loses the information provided by extensive investigation
Alex S. Jones of Harvard University praises the technological changes in journalism, but fears the loss of the “iron core of news that serves as a watchdog over government, holds the powerful accountable, and gives citizens what they need”Slide19
Embracing Citizen Journalism
Legacy media is embracing the public’s involvement in the news-gathering process
Allowing the public to critique stories on the Web
“One provider to many consumers” is becoming a thing of the pastSlide20
The Role of the Public in News Gathering
In a terrorist attack on a London subway, the first images came from survivors who used their phones to take pictures and send them to the outside world
When a plane struck birds during takeoff and had to make an emergency landing on the Hudson River, the first images came from nearby apartment dwellers who took pictures and videos from their windows
These sources of information are popping up on websites worldwide Slide21
Problems with Citizen Journalism
Can post false reports
Anyone can participate (bad actors, spammers, liars, thieves)
Real journalists must edit stories, photos, and videos submitted by readers and viewers and spend time verifying informationSlide22
New Financial Models for Web-Based Journalism
For-Profit Models
Traditional revenue is generated mainly from advertising and some additional newsstand sales and subscriptions
Web-based journalism seek to support themselves through:
Venture capital
: receiving startup financing from private investors and gain national popularity which attracts advertising; some also charge for subscriptions
Financed as an old media/new media hybrid
:
sell ads to support their free Web content while publishing traditional products
Individual entrepreneurs:
established with spare change and hope to attract enough advertising to survive Slide23
New Financial Models for Web-Based Journalism (Cont.)
Not-for-Profit Models
Seek only to support their own operations (pay staff and other costs)
Some rely on volunteers
Displaced journalists with formal training and significant experience in news gathering
Can produce great investigative journalism
Funded by:
Foundations
: grants from foundations
Hybrid Models
:
advertisers, corporate sponsors, or individual donors
Not financed at all
:
do not seek to take advertising or make a profit; operate without expectation of profit; often have second jobsSlide24
Jobs in Journalism
More jobs are being found online
Patch.com (AOL subsidary), bgov.com (Bloomberg Governemnt)
Fewer jobs will be found at print divisions of newspaper companies
Cutting employment due to steady declines in circulation and declines in advertising revenue
Less local television employment