Producing Quality Journalism

in the Digital Age

George BrockProfessor and Head of Journalism

City University LondonWAN-IFRA Twinning Initiative Workshop

Turin, June 2014

Two myths to forget• (1) “Journalism doesn’t need thinking

about; it just needs doing”

• (2) “The internet is destroying journalism”

Myth No 1• The way people learn about the world they

can’t see and hear for themselves has always changed

• Journalism – the attempt to work out the truth of things that matter to a community – has always had to adapt

• Adapting is always happening: writing, print, trains, telegraph, radio, TV

Myth No 1 (cont)• Adapting needs thought• It may require experiment• It certainly does not require fixed ideas and

beliefs• Late 20th century was misleading and unusual

period: plenty of income for news publishers and very little change

Myth No 2 (“the internet destroys journalism”)

• Print was under pressure as an efficient, profitable way of conveying news long before the internet was thought of

• What the internet does endanger is the newspaper business model

• It also tends to undermine journalists’ sense of identity

• But that is not the same as saying that it destroys journalism

To the contrary…• Digital technology is an engine of opportunity• We have hardly begun to explore the

possibilities• Long-lasting multiple waves of change to come• But it seems to me likely…• …that journalism will not only survive…• …but get better

Smartphones

Tablets!

• “It is the imagination, ultimately, and not mathematical calculation that creates media; it is the fresh perception of how to fit a potential machine into an actual way of life that really constitutes the act of ‘invention’.” Anthony Smith, 1980

Quality of the diagnosis counts• Tired media businesses try to prescribe before

they diagnose

• Those likely to survive and win reverse that order

• Diagnose, then prescribe

Things to be realistic about• Capital-intensive technology of print gave

journalists a dominant position in the information chain. That position has been lost, or at least altered

• Commercial and editorial separated out in mature businesses driven by cost-efficiency

• Digital does not favour bundles• The nature of impact has changed

Work on the quality of diagnosis

• What’s changed?• What are we trying to do and why are we

trying to do it?• What value do we add (in a world in which

anyone with a smartphone can summon information in any idle moment with their thumb)?

Journalists don’t like experiments• Failure isn’t seen as useful• In experiment, failure is often educational and

illuminating• Today’s deadline and emergencies take precedence over

exploration of the future• Journalism is seen as a mission and a vocation: heresy is

punished (by other journalists)• Ordered to “innovate” or “think outside the box”,

people (usually) freeze.• The “box” isn’t there any more

Principles before procedures

• Four core tasks:–Verification (changed)–Sense-making (changed)–Eye-witness (not much changed)–Investigation (changed a bit)

Before you worry about revenue• Anthropologists + explorers• Gather intelligence from everywhere• Don’t “innovate”: experiment!• Technology and data• Voice• Purpose must convert to value (ie strip out what is being

done by custom and habit)• Aggregation/curation• Collective vs individual judgement• Try, fail, drop it, try something else

Here’s an example• http://www.buzzfeed.com/miriamberger/a-22

-step-guide-to-understanding-how-crimea-voted-to-join-ru

• Note picture/words ratio• Note “voice”• First win the audience; then add more

journalism (old formula)• Buzzfeed slogan: “error is useful”

Revenue streams: experiment• Ads• Subs• Premium price stuff• Events• Crowdfunding• Micropayments• Philanthropy

More here…

And here

• www.georgebrock.net

• www.city.ac.uk/journalism

• @georgeprof