Old Media vs New Media

by Evgeny Morozovdelivered at Reporting EU Integration seminar

organized by Transitions OnlinePrague, November 21/2007

Outline

1. Problems with Old Media2. New audience needs3. Future of traditional media4. The old-new citizen journalism5. Sociotechnological Web revolution6. How are traditional media embracing new

media?

Outline

1. Problems with Old Media2. New audience needs3. Future of traditional media4. The old-new citizen journalism5. Sociotechnological Web revolution6. How are traditional media embracing new

media?

Outline

• Problems with Old Media• Will “new media” save or destroy “old

media”?• Is it old vs new or old AND new? • Are we in this together? • Tomorrow’s media: what is it like?

Trust in “Old Media” is falling

Source: State of the News Media, Project for Excellence in Journalism, February 2007 (applies to most following slides as well)

Average Circulation is Falling

Average Viewership is Falling

Average Ratings Are Falling

Local wins over national/international

Bureaus are closing down

People read news online

Young people go digital

“Monopolies” disappear

Growing misinformation

Too little attention; too many mistakes

Outline

1. Problems with Old Media2. New audience needs3. Future of traditional media4. The old-new citizen journalism5. Sociotechnological Web revolution6. How are traditional media embracing new

media?

What Media for Digital Natives?

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Outline

1. Problems with Old Media2. New audience needs3. Future of traditional media (as they see it)4. The old-new citizen journalism5. Sociotechnological Web revolution6. How are traditional media embracing new

media?

about

• 435 senior news executives from around the world answered the Newsroom Barometer (there are 10,000 daily newspapers worldwide). These included editors-in-chief (45%), managing editors (17%) and other types of news executives across the board.

What best describes your view of online / new media journalism and its role in your

community?

Because of the possibility to interact with readers online, it has been said that: "News is no longer a lecture, it is a conversation"

(Dan Gillmor). How do you view the effects of this phenomenon on quality journalism?

2007 Newsroom Barometer, World Editors Forum and Reuters

Do you think that the majority of news (print and online) will be free in

the future?

2007 Newsroom Barometer, World Editors Forum and Reuters

Overall, how optimistic are you about your newspaper's future?

2007 Newsroom Barometer, World Editors Forum and Reuters

Looking 10 years into the future, what will be the most common way of reading the news in your community?

2007 Newsroom Barometer, World Editors Forum and Reuters

Over the next 10 years, do you think that the quality of journalism is going to:

2007 Newsroom Barometer, World Editors Forum and Reuters

If you had to invest in editorial quality, what would you do first in the newsroom?

If you had to invest in editorial quality, what would you do second in the newsroom?

Outline

1. Problems with Old Media2. New audience needs3. Future of traditional media4. The old-new citizen journalism5. Sociotechnological Web revolution6. How are traditional media embracing new

media?

…but, first, how “new” is it?

For example, that’s “new media” in the 70s...

Fanzines & Zines: great examples User-Generated

Content (UGC)

Self-publishedSelf-published SamizdatSamizdat

CountercultureCounterculture

Low BudgetLow Budget

Self-expression/not $$$Self-expression/not $$$

DIY Community

Easy to produce

Low barriers

DIY: from counterculture to DIY: from counterculture to mainstreammainstream

The crucial difference is that readers/producers of pamphlets or zines

were POORLY and RARELY connected

Outline

1. Problems with Old Media2. New audience needs3. Future of traditional media4. The old-new citizen journalism5. Sociotechnological Web revolution6. How are traditional media embracing new

media?

% of Population Going Online

Source: State of the News Media 2007

Internet is getting more widespread

...and better

…and different

As a result, thousands of new social Web services have appeared

Facebook penetration by country

WordPress

Sign-ups for Second Life

Technorati

Results?

Result #2

Result # 3

Result #4

Result #5

“Our audience can help us [professional journalists] better understand the issues and phenomena we are writing about. Readers can share facts that we do not know. They can add nuance and context. They can ask additional questions. And, of course, they can tell us when we are wrong»

Dan Gillmor

« People without professional journalistic training will use modern technology to create, improve and check on traditional media” Mark Glasser

“Citizen journalists are who people formerly known as the audience»

Jay Rosen

Outline

1. Problems with Old Media2. New audience needs3. Future of traditional media4. The old-new citizen journalism5. Sociotechnological Web revolution6. How are traditional media embracing new

media?

Old vs New

Old+New=Social Media

Самые важные навыки для онлайн-журналистов

Candidates matrix

FT PREDICTIVE MARKETS

FORBES ORG CHARTS

Radio Open Source

Rough Cuts

Rough Cuts

Rough Cuts cont

News To Me

BBC in Urdu

Freakonomics/New York Times

TreeHugger/Discovery Channel

World Hum/ Travel Channel

New York Times Quiz / Facebook

WP Political Barometer / Facebook

facebook/conde nast

Time/Facebook

Reason covers

Maramushi screenshot

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News.com

sphere.com / TIME

Us today widgets

NYT: accepting photos on the city blog

The Economist/audio edition

disclaimer: I've done my best to attribute slides, graphs and screenshots used in this presentation. Nobody is perfect, and some of them may have slipped in unclaimed –

apologies to the original right holders. Let's hope that my frivolous use of your graphs or tables falls under fair use ;-)