Sensemaking preso

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The Future of Context Sensemaking – June 2010 Matt Thompson, NPR

Transcript of Sensemaking preso

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The Future of

ContextSensemaking – June 2010

Matt Thompson, NPR

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Three big problems

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Three big problemsopportunities!

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The backstory problem

http://news.google.com/

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Familiarity with a news story

New to the story

Somewhat familiar

Deeply familiar

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Different news needsfor different users

New to the story

Somewhat familiar

Deeply familiar

What’s changed recently?

What’s the latest?

What’s the backstory?

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“I sat out Kosovo.”

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The overload problem

http://news.google.com

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”““Learned helplessness”

The abundance of news and ubiquity of choice do not necessarily translate into a

better news environment for consumers ... 

Participants in this study showed signs of news fatigue; that is, they appeared

debilitated by information overload and unsatisfying news experiences ... 

 Ultimately news fatigue brought

many of the participants to a learned helplessness response.

The more overwhelmed or unsatis"ed they were, the less

effort they were willing to put in.

From an AP study of young news consumers

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crime & scandal

crime & scandal

accidents & tra!c

accidents & tra!c

weather

weather

sports & celebrities

crime & scandal

“Learned helplessness”

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The trust problem

http://news.google.com

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Institutional voice = “objective”?

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Easier: Clear villains and heroes

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Beyond newsThe future of context.

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The emerging industry

Rising superstars of the new journalism

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Coverage of the Fort Hood shootings

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The Tribune’s reaction“It seemed like a made-to-order test for the Texas Tribune.”“They scrambled the jets, made plans, and then – stayed put.”

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From more stories to larger stories

educationinvestigation

investigation

investigation

political analysis

feature

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The quest narrative

The Epic of Gilgamesh

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The quest: a journalistic staple

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The quest moves online

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And you can participate

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The beat reporter of the future

Washington Post reporter/columnist/blogger Ezra Klein

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Imagine a news source that provided enough background

to make every story clear.

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Imagine a news source that day after day became

not merely timelier, but more comprehensive.

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Wikipedia’s lessons.

Wikipedia logo

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It works for breaking news.From the New York Times, July 1, 2007:

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It works for old news.The Bet: Winer vs. Nisenholtz

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Blogs will outrank the

New York Times on Google!

Oh yeah?

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Wikipedia trounced both blogs and the Times.

From workbench.cadenhead.org, 12.20.07

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Wikipedia’s growth curve

From Wikimedia.org.

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Wikipedia creator Jimmy Wales estimated in 2006 that 1,400 people contributed 74% of the site’s edits.*

* Source: “Who Writes Wikipedia?” – aaronsw.com, 9.24.06

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Before 2008 staff cuts, the size of the New York Times newsroom was around 1,420.*

* Source: “Newsroom Cuts at the ‘New York Times’” – portfolio.com, 2.14.08

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Traffic estimates:NYTimes.com vs. Wikipedia.orgSource: Quantcast.com

wikipedia

nytimes

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The Times learned from Nisenholtz’s bet.

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The world’s most transparent newsroom?

From Wikimedia.org.

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In sum ...

The Epic of Gilgamesh

- Larger stories, not more stories

- Reveal the quest

- Toward timelessness

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Thank you.

Matt ThompsonBlog: Newsless.orgTweet: @mthompsEmail: [email protected]