The Changing Face Of News

from the down-here-in-the-muck dept

Remember all those people complaining about big media consolidation, and how all those big media companies control what people think? It seems those people forgot that we have many more media choices than ever before. Just a couple weeks ago, even CNN (owned by big media) admitted that people were going elsewhere for their news - because broadcast media just didn't cut it any more. Now, here's an editorial basically saying the same thing: big media isn't giving consumers what they want, and those consumers are going elsewhere - and aren't necessarily going to return. Of course, this brings up a fine-line issue, because he basically says that people want rumors and gore. However, if (as some major media players said) the response from major media is to tell people "you can just get that on the internet," they will - and they might wonder why they need major media at all. Of course, this result should be the most frightening for everyone. Major media does serve a purpose. The reporting they do is often useful and insightful - much more so than lots of independent sources. But, those major media players need to learn that the news world now includes both types of sources, and they need to figure out how to work with them. The editorial linked here suggests that news sources can become "the ratifiers of the news" rather than "the gatekeepers of the news" - taking all the "muck" that flows on independent sites and blogs and adding both context and factual reporting to back it up. Of course, that would require a shift in mindset. Most news organizations still hate to admit that there exists any other news organzations in the world and that (oh my!) some of their viewers/readers might actually use them as well. Update: Ah, well, as someone pointed out in the comments, it looks like the site that published this story doesn't get it either. They've set up their page in quite an annoying way. Clicking on the "print this" link gives you a new page for no reason. Also, the URL is likely going to break shortly, as it's not story or date specific - and most of their articles move behind a paid wall. I thought this was all about giving users what they wanted or watching them go elsewhere. Guess it's time to go elsewhere.