Techdirt Saves* Journalism (And Sells Some T-Shirts)
from the join-us... dept
Today we're announcing an event that we're holding on June 16th, in the evening, at Google's offices in Mountain View. It's not your ordinary panel/speaker event. It's based on the Techdirt Greenhouse series of events that we've done over the years, where the focus is on getting lots of smart people together in a room and brainstorming to come up with solutions to certain issues. In the past, those have often been issues faced by a particular organization, but back in January, at Midem, we tried it on a specific industry: the music industry. The results were fantastic, so we've decided to start doing similar brainstorming workshops in other areas, and this one is our first, entitled "Techdirt Saves* Journalism."
Obviously, the focus is on brainstorming ideas to help the journalism market. It will kick off with three short presentations: one by me, one by Google economist Hal Varian, who's been doing a ton of fantastic work on newspaper economics, and one by Ian Rogers, the CEO of Topspin, one of a growing group of companies that is helping to reinvent the music business. That last one might seem a bit confusing -- since this event is all about the journalism industry -- but that's very much part of the point. These brainstorming sessions work best by bringing in people with very different perspectives. We don't want this to just be journalists/newspaper people, but have already begun inviting a wide range of folks with diverse backgrounds, well beyond journalism. There will be plenty of journalism/media folks there, as well. But we thought that Ian could provide some perspective about how some parts of the music industry have responded (successfully) to the challenge of the internet, and that could be great in getting people thinking differently and creatively.
These events are highly interactive -- so if you're coming, expect to participate. Following the brief presentations, attendees will be broken out into small brainstorming groups, and we'll have about an hour to workshop and brainstorm (with some guidance) to try to come up with creative ideas and ways to help save journalism. After that we'll regroup, share some of the best ideas, and then partake of some food and drink.
The event is being both sponsored and hosted graciously by Google -- which shouldn't come as a surprise, given how much effort the company is putting into trying to help the journalism business succeed (that Atlantic article is a fantastic read).
To commemorate this occasion, we're also releasing our latest t-shirt design. Given the massive success of our limited edition DMCA t-shirt (seriously, we sold way more of those than we expected), we thought we'd follow it up with a special paywall t-shirt. Sporting a typical online newspaper paywall design, you can use this paywall t-shirt to make sure folks pay up before finishing their conversation with you. After all, without people paying to talk to you, how would you ever be incented to produce the sort of quality conversations they want? If you'd like to attend the Techdirt Saves* Journalism workshop, you can reserve a spot here -- and we'll throw in the t-shirt! If you can't attend the event, but still want your very own paywall t-shirt, that option is right here.
We look forward to seeing you on June 16th!
* On the title of the event, Techdirt Saves Journalism, we're adding this particular disclaimer to ward off those who might have missed the joke and are about to accuse us of massive hubris. The reference is a mocking response to the regular headlines you see every few days about "newspapers are dying" or "so-and-so is 'killing' journalism." We figured that if there was so much hyperbole around an industry dying based on misread data points, we might as well hit back with a mocking claim that this single event will clearly save journalism. Oh yeah, also, one of our regular critics in the comments recently started claiming that we had said we could save journalism, even though we made no such claim. However, if we're going to get slammed for making the claim anyway, we might as well embrace it and see what we can do. So, for the really literally minded of you out there, we don't think this event alone will "save journalism." That's just a joke. But it should be insightful, enlightening and educational for all involved. And, who knows, perhaps some idea will be hatched that does, in fact, help journalism avoid the fate in all those headlines we keep seeing...
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: brainstorming, journalism, t-shirt, techdirt
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Help those that can not attend.
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Re: Help those that can not attend.
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Re: Help those that can not attend.
We're working on a few options, but I doubt we'll be able to do it live. The point of this event is, really, to get people together face-to-face to discuss things in small groups. It's a different dynamic to add people from online as well.
We will see about recording the event and then posting certain discussions online so that people can further brainstorm here, but coordinating a hybrid event may distract from the point.
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CwF + RtB I suppose...
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The punchline is success.
A bunch of forward thinkers go into a bar...
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Huh.
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Where, Where?
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So are you going to tell us where we can see the results? or get a copy of the talk?
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Hah
The rest of you take full damage.
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But, I already have the answer...
1) Sell copies (monopoly/copyright protected prices)
2) Sell access (paywalls + copyright protection against republication)
3) Accept donations (copyleft as charity)
4) Collect compulsory licenses (Internet/ISP tax)
** abandon/abolish copyright & disintermediate the press **
5) Sell intellectual work/production of journalism (copyleft paid by crowdfunding/patronage/subscription)
The 5th option saves journalism (it doesn't save newspapers though).
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Re: But, I already have the answer...
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At the end of the day it is the human being we call a journalist and their intellect that works to produce what newspapers derogatorily term 'content' so they can sell copies of it.
However, when those copies cost nothing to make and distribute, and we can all make and distribute our own, then the only person left to be paid is the journalist for their intellectual work. The newspaper corporation on the other hand has no business left. The market for copies has ended, and the 18th century monopoly that shored it up is an ineffective anachronism.
Our task now is to produce facilities that enable those interested in receiving more of their favourite journalists' writing to pay them to carry on producing more.
The market for intellectual work continues - disintermediated.
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"The market for intellectual work continues - disintermediated." - this is also a problem because you are removing crediblity from all. who is a credible news source? is an article in the new york times more credible than the same writer who might happen to make a blog entry on something? the intermediary is very important in filtering and focusing the output, removing the spam and the junk and getting you 'the news you need'. can you imagine if all news was reported by donks like perez hilton? holy crap!
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So, I guess you believe Mike Masnick has had his credibility removed through not being employed by a newspaper?
We are all free to decide which journalists we find more credible than others, and patronise them accordingly. Similarly, we are free to decide which blog aggregators we consider to be good judges of credible journalists, and patronise them as they patronise the journalists they select.
This is not just a paradigm inversion. It's a value chain inversion. Yesterday we were charged for copies. Tomorrow we pay journalists to write. The boot is on the other foot. The same intellectual work is produced, the same money is paid, but the old fashioned and uneconomic intermediary has lost their job due to automation.
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What errors or factual misrepresentations are you referring to? When faced with errors/factual misrepresentations, Mike happily corrects those errors.
Instead of complaining about it, why not actually point out these imaginary errors and factual misrepresentations instead.
"for me, the credibility it lost right there."
TAM, you're just jealous that you have no credibility and Mike does. Sorry, that's not Mike's fault.
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1) A newspaper staffer contributing to a daily/weekly paper.
2) A writer employed by a periodical - or freelance contributor to such.
3) Someone (such as a blogger) who writes on news and current issues on a daily/weekly basis.
I am using the 3rd sense. Mike was probably using another.
Whatever your definition, the credibility is not obtained from your job title, or even the reputation of your employer, but how good a writer you are, and your reputation as such. If you have no reputation as a writer, then perhaps you can obtain some credibility from your employer - until you have some in your own right.
So, it is strange for you to regard someone as losing credibility simply because they prefer not to be described as a journalist.
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T-Shirt
It made me laugh.
However I think I would only pay 15$ for it, as that is about the price I pay for any of my t-shirts these days. I know we get the bonuses for our profile and logging in, but I already have them from the DMCA shirt purchase.
I guess this is just another example of price vs value. I happen to value it at less than the price. Kind of sad because I want it. I am a cheap arse though.
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If anything my post is only an example that price does not equal value.
You fail pretty hard there as I never said I would not buy it period. Just not at its current price point.
We have explained these things to you before and yet you still do not seem to understand. I even tried to make that point in my original post and yet you jumped to crazy conclusions from stuff I never said.
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what, no one used this one yet?
*and takes half damage
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Introducting The Home edition of Techdirt Saves*!
Each of these mentions require one drink:
Each mention of these ideas require you to take two drinks
If Mike mentions he comments anonymously on his own blog, you have to finish your drink.
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Don't be naive. Apple saved Journalism.
Case in point, Wired Magazine just released it’s newest issue on the iPad for $4.99, which isn't bad for the first issue. As adoption rises, it will go down in price.
Here’s how it looks-
http://www.wired.com/video/wired-on-the-ipad/88021017001
Even Mike should know that Chris Anderson is way ahead of the curve.
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Re: Don't be naive. Apple saved Journalism.
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The CD idea could be a good idea for those who have limited or no Internet access but have computers. Perhaps audio CD's to complement a newspaper (for those who have CD players but no computers) or video DVD's that can play on peoples DVD player. Kinda like a convenient method of circumventing the mainstream media enabling people to deliver media over convenient platforms without having to worry about the monopolies that special interest groups have on public airwaves and cableco/telco infrastructure and without having to worry about bandwidth caps and other bandwidth limitations. This way critical news can be more conveniently delivered without the blessing of the mainsteram media. Perhaps for less time sensitive news the CD's or DVD's can be snail mailed?
Come to think about it, protesters who hand out brochures can probably also include video DVD's with all sorts of information so that normal people, with no or limited Internet access, can become more aware of a wider array of issues.
Again, this is just me brainstorming ideas, nothing concrete at least, but some of it could be worth a try or maybe improved upon.
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Perhaps Ice cream trucks can help cell CD's/DVD's or newspapers with CD's and other content, that way the content can share some of the same fixed costs as the rest of the ice cream's sales costs. Perhaps the ice cream truck can have a netbook to upload information onto peoples USB drive? You buy ice cream from me, you get "free" content thrown in. Then again, this could create a conflict of interest between Ice cream sales and content, the ice cream seller has an incentive to ensure the news is bias in favor of his/her ice cream business. I'm also not familiar with the licensing restrictions on Ice cream trucks either but if they're anything like those of taxi cabs then this idea would be even more problematic. Again, these are just brainstorming ideas people might consider and perhaps improve upon.
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You get up in the morning, pick up your newspaper, grab the latest CD, go to your car to go to work, put it in your CD player, jump to the track you want, listen to it on your way to work. Jump to maybe another track on the way back from work. More time sensitive tracks can be listened to in the morning on the way to work, less time sensitive tracks can be listened to on the way back from work. Less time sensitive tracks should be later tracks for convenience then, track one would be the most time sensitive track.
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Another idea regarding your techdirt saves journalism in the case of handing out brochures for political parties to those without a convenient Internet connection is that you can have a wireless router connected to your laptop (with security measures of course to prevent hacking, perhaps deep freeze on the laptop) that doesn't give anyone an Internet connection but allows anyone close to the wireless router to connect to your laptop and load a generic webpage that enables them to download all sorts of content (video/audio/documents/pictures/podcasts) onto their laptop and watch/read/listen to it. I know at my school when you first connect to the wireless network, before you can get on the net with your laptop, the first page you get is a generic one asking for your student ID and password. So it is definitely possible for a wireless connection that people in close proximity can connect to to load a generic page with all sorts of content that they can download onto their laptop.
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Oh, hell yeah!
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Brains needed
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