Fundamentals of interactive journalism

Fall 2008 - Jeff Jarvis

The State of News 2008

• CIRCULATION- Lowest level since 1946- 53 million today vs. 62 million in 1970- Down 14.5%- But population is up by 50%- So circulation should be 92 million- Adjusted loss: 74%- Penetration roughly half what it was: 17% vs. 30%

- Vin Crosbie

The State of News 2008

• REVENUE- In 2007, newspaper revenue took sharpest decline in 60 years:- Down 9.4% to $42.2 billion- The decline is steepening in 2008- Online accounts for 7.5% of newspaper ad revenue (but rates declined 14% in Q1&2 08)

-E&P, A Mutter

The State of News 2008

• MARKET VALUE- Value of 11 top public newspaper companies fell $23 billion in Qs1-2 08 (down $50 billion, 50% since 2004)- McClatchy down 95% v. 2005- Lee down 92% v. 2004- NYTimes down 75% v. 2002- Gannett down 65% v. 2004- Gatehouse down 97% v. 2006Private ownership does not help thanks to credit crunch -E&P/A. Mutter

The State of News 2008

• Newsroom jobs- 2,185 jobs lost in 2007- 8,118 jobs lost so far in 2008

- Papercuts blog

The State of News 2008

• TRUST- 54% of Americans do not trust news media (Harris 2008)- 52% of Americans do not trust news media, up from 30% in 1972 (Gallup)- 19.6% believe all or most news media(Sacred Heart University 2008)

The State of News 2008

• IS NEWS SHRINKING?- The power of the link brings us news from all over the world covering no limit of interests - Online newspaper audience: 67 million (Nielsen) - larger than print- Add millions more sources: Pew says 53 million people create content, as many as buy newspapers- Digg has 26 million uses per month

Causes & culprits

Causes & culprits• The internet?

• Craig?

• Greed?

• Monopolies?

• Lack of innovation?

• Lack of investment?

• Squandered trust?

• Tradition?

• Culture?

• Society?

• Journalism schools?

• Nobody?

Impact

Impact• Less or more

informed?

• More or less involved?

• More or fewer voices and perspectives?

• More or fewer opportunities?

• Stronger or weaker brands?

• Deeper or shallower?

• More local or more international?

• More fleeting or more permanent?

Why are we here?

New opportunities

New opportunities• Omnimedia

• Collaborative

• Independent

• Networked

• Mobile

• Constant

• Distributed

• Live

• Social

• Edit the world

• New, easy, cheap tools

• Data and technology serving news

• Act as a platform for the community

New structure

New structure• Ecology of links:

- Do what you do best, link to the rest- Restructure stories- Collaborative / Complementary- Networks- Distributed (readers as newsstand)- Aggregated / Curated- Search as navigation- Feeds - Process (the half-baked story) vs. product- New relationship

New economy of news

• Content economy vs. link economy

• Networks vs. corporations

• Edge vs. centralized

• Control vs. enable

• Small is the new big

• Process vs. product

New jobs

New jobs

• Reporter

• Producer

• Editor (but doing what?)

• Curator

• Organizer

• Educator

• Programmer/Developer

• Inventor

• Entrepreneur

New skills

New skills• Relationship

• Interaction

• Organize/mobilize

• Live

• Omnimedia

• Curation: linking (Do best/link rest)

• Education

• Business: sustaining journalism

• Working with technology

• Eternal verities & new ethics (transparency, link, correction, process)

So...• Learn the eternal verities and adapt them to new

realities

• Embrace change - it is your friend

• Innovate

• Learn every tool

• Recast journalism’s relationship with the public

• Listen, collaborate, enable, serve

• Understand your responsibility to sustain journalism

• Add unique value to the community - avoid commodification

• And have fun