The evolution of news, part 2,312
Howard Owens, Lucas Grindley and Terry Heaton are all posting about the evolution of the news business over the past day or two and they are all worth reading.
Owens and Grindley are debating the veracity of Wired's 2007 prediction that a major newspaper will give up printing on paper to publish on the Web. Owens thinks it's not going to happen in 07; Grindley says it well could. Read them yourself; they're short.
Meanwhile, Heaton tells of watching 20/20 last night when it was interrupted with the Saddam Hussein hanging bulletin. But rather than returning to the regularly scheduled program, ABC preempted the 20/20 special to provide us with 40 minutes of canned historical crap and pre-produced "reaction" that caused me to change the channel.
I realize it's heresy to suggest that the news division of a broadcast network NOT interrupt programming for such, but what ABC did last night was to further alienate viewers who are increasingly able to make their own viewing choices. Hello! This is the new world of media, not the broadcasting days of old when networks had to be all things to all people.
I think of that, too, as I enjoy the discussion here about whether and how to publish photos of a hanged Saddam in the printed paper. As "the new world of media" expands and evolves, the new audience is expanding and evolving, too. Both are occurring much faster than "old media" types like me expect, and, often, know how to serve.
So, we have discussions -- more and more openly, I hope -- about how to do it. Personally, I doubt we'll see a major newspaper drop its print edition in 2007. But I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen by 2010. (Depends on the definition of "major," too.)
Update: In case you doubt the idea that some readers are resistant to change, I received a note written via typewriter and delivered via Postal Service on a copy of one of our printed headlines yesterday in which we used the word "human" as a noun, as in "Humans evolve quickly." He pointed out, accurately, that the preferred usage of the word human is as an adjective, as in the "human body." (My dictionary allows both.) He wondered what happen to proof readers, a position we've not had in the 30 years I've been in the business. I'm figuring out how to serve him as well as those who worry about other things.
Comments (1)
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John, thanks for the link.
Posted on December 31, 2006 11:09 PM