Out of Town News,Cambridge, Mass. from Stephanie McPherson on Vimeo.
The Future of News
With the newspaper industry in a desperate search for a business model that
pays, many critics have begun to brainstorm what the new face of media will be.
As early as March of 1993, Michael Crichton wrote a piece for a fledgling
magazine called Wired. The article, titled “Mediasaurus“, predicted the Web
would mean a diversity of one topic news websites, artificial intelligence
systems that could find stories he was interested in, and a host of other ideas.
He also suggested newspapers, that in the far off year of 2008, would be gone
for good.
After the Globe’s month long standoff with the New York Times, the debate over
the future of the media has reached a frenzied pitch. As Crichton’s essay
prophesied, the Internet is brimming with possibilities, but not certainties.
One of the main reasons for the newspaper industries’ decline has been the
drop-off in both advertising and classifieds. Due to the rise of the internet,
advertisers have found different venues and classifieds have become free . While
touring the Boston Globe offices, long tine photographer George Rizer pointed to
a group of desks covered in old papers and unused equipment. “See those?” he
said, “Those desks used to have tons of people taking classifieds, at all times
of the day. Now, they’re gone.” Rizer went on to predict that in the next five
years, one third of all newspapers will fold.
Veterans of the newspaper industry have their own ideas for how to keep the
presses running. Jim Foudy, editor of the Daily Hampshire Gazette in
Northampton, enjoys his system for keeping the Gazette in print. “The newspapers
shot themselves in the foot by providing free content, and Craigslist has done a
number on our wanted ads and classifieds,” he said. To stay afloat, the Gazette
requires a subscription to view its web content.
The Gazette model is a rarity in the online newspaper circuit because it
requires cash to use. Foudy admits that needing a subscription probably keeps
readership from reaching its full potential This roadblock has led other editors
take a different approach. Boston.com, the site on which the Boston Globe posts
all of its material, is free for anyone who chooses to use it. Bennie DiNardo,
one of the deputy of managers of multimedia content at the Globe, has a
different philosophy. “Our business is to deliver the news, no matter what the
format,” he said. “To quote Arthur Sulzberger, head of the New York Times, we
need to be agnostic about how people get their news.”
While newspapers continue to experiment with possible business models that will
allow them to put content on the web while making a profit, other groups in the
media are trying different methods.
One development occurring in the media sphere is the rise of citizen
journalists. Often unpaid, these men and women report on issues that affect
their communities. Opinions on the future of citizen journalists are mixed.
Critics of the current media feel that citizen journalists offer news without
agendas, a fault that the mass media is often accused of having. Critics of the
current media feel that citizen journalists, like Rizer, say that amateur
journalists practice an exercise in egomania that will lead to news without
substance.
This video should give you a better idea of both sides of the argument.
The Future of Journalism in Massachusetts from Lucas Correia on Vimeo.
Some branches of the media are working overtime to fill in the gaps left by the
newspapers‘ decline. Cambridge Community Television, a public television station
set up in Boston, is starting to use citizen journalists for a project called
Neighbor Media, with the eventual goal of putting a journalist in every zip code
in Cambridge. Colin Rhinesmith, director of the project said, “to have residents
see people they know reporting is inspiring. Seeing them produce stories that
effect them is truly media by the people, for the people.”
CCTV may be a good place to start when looking for the new face of the media.
It presents itself as a merchant of information newsworthy to those in the local
community, users of nonprofessional talent, and is endlessly inventive. A
project using the program GoogleMaps, called MediaMap shows how the new media is
shaping up. One can zoom into a map of Boston, choose a location, and watch,
listen, or read a news story that happened the spot. Rhinesmith says that this
is an especially exciting development for those with mobile devices.
MediaMap is interesting for an additional reason. Another attempt at divining
the future of the media, titled EPIC video, predicted a hypothetical, hyperlocal
media program that used GoogleMaps. Called EPIC, it would become the ultimate
answer in media. In an interesting turn, it was predicted that this program
would be made only after the almighty New York Times folded.
Foudy said, “the newspaper business is in flux, but the principles of
journalism are here to stay.” Some parts of the media are gloating at a bigger
role in making the news, other parts are doing scrambling to hold the newspaper
above the water. One suspects that when the dust finally clears in the media’s
civil war, the winner will be something both very similar -yet very different-
from the models already predicted.
Globe Reader Reactions
By: Kevin Koczwara
The New York Times Co. hasn’t closed down Boston’s largest daily newspaper, for now. The Boston Globe remains open with a certain feeling of dread. The dread comes from not knowing how long the Times Co. can keep financing a product that loses $20 million a day, and the uncertainty hung over the paper for the month of April and into May.
An open rally for readers and workers to show their support was organized at Faneuil Hall on Friday, April 24, early afternoon. The time frame allowed workers in the area to show their support. Although many would not comment on their feelings on the situation because they were skipping work, some did speak about how the loss of the paper would affect them.
“I think it would be a tremendous loss,” said Jerry Lewis, an Electrician on lunch break. “It’s a nationally recognized institution.”
The Globe’s closure would have been seen as a huge loss to the Boston community. “The Boston Globe is the leading voice of New England and if it were to go silent, we’d lose an institution that has become part of our regional identity,” said Meredith O’Brien, a columnist and author living in the MetroWest area.
“The Globe leads the charge in covering state government and holding the Commonwealth’s leaders accountable,” she said. “And, as a former reporter for the Boston Herald, I’d be tremendously saddened to see the city lose its coveted status as a two-newspaper town. Having journalistic competition keeps reporters on their toes, keeps ‘em sharp and, whatever stories one paper doesn’t have, the other likely does, a yin and yang, particularly when it comes to their editorial leanings.”
Founded in 1872, the Globe has been a staple in newsstands since the turn of the century. “Every day Globe readers wake up and learn about each other, about the places we live, what’s important to us, about the events, the institutions, the forces that affect our lives,” said Brian Mooney, Globe reporter.
Printed seven days a week, the paper has evolved over the years alongside technology. Boston.com was started in 1995, giving users and readers up-to-date information for free. The Web site brings in revenue, however minimal, from ad space. The innovations have saved the company some money as its distribution numbers have slumped over the years.
City Council President Michael Ross added his voice to the Faneuil Hall rally. Even if the paper may not always be on his side, he said, he stands by it. “Newspapers serve as a touchstone for our community, which ultimately makes our country, city and government better,” Ross said.
The rally showed its diversity in voices by bringing in Neiman Fellow and Pulitzer Prize winning reporter David Jackson of the Chicago Tribune, a Boston native. He sees the paper as a necessary piece of government.
“Every day Globe reporters comb the corridors of power and the public alleyways, and they shed light. They bring forth vested facts, and they spark the conversation on which our democracy depends,” Jackson said to the crowds.
O’Brien feels the same. “Without the Globe, I shudder to think of the number of stories that would go uncovered and the things with which the folks at the State House would be able to do knowing there aren’t many reporters keeping tabs on them,” she said.
Dan Totten, president of the Boston Newspaper Guild, sees the paper as a landmark for the Boston area. “The Boston Globe is far too important to the life of New England to ever be placed in jeopardy,” says Totten, whose Guild will need to ratify the new contact that has been negotiated between the Guild and The New York Times Co.
The 190 guaranteed jobs and more than $10 million in pay cuts have been agreed upon, now The Boston Newspaper Guild must vote ratify the new terms of their contacts at the June 8 meeting. This must surely be done or the New York Times Co. will have to close shop to one of the nations oldest and largest daily papers, and make Boston a one paper city.
