Wake up newspapers!!!

photo credit: aditya.internet on Flickr

When are the newspapers going to wake up and smell the new media and social media scene?? Grant it many have, but there are still major Luddites on the scene. I’m not saying the traditional news engines should go away, and bow down to the mighty electronic media gods – on the contrary. I say they should join the forces and modify their strategies for dissemination of news. Part of the problem is just that – the word “dissemination.” It makes me think that THEY are the deliverers of all messages in the world of news. If the newspapers (not to mention the TV broadcast world, magazine world and radio world) want to stay afloat in this era of participatory consumerism – then they need to provide opportunities for consumers to actually participate and interact with their publication in more than the print format.

This latest story - The Tribune Company announcing they are filing for bankruptcy today – is just one more example of the need for traditional media outlets to converge with new media outlets and create digital strategies. [Note: The Tribune Company publishes The L.A. Times and The Chicago Tribune.] Oh – and when you read this article, notice who the Tribune’s top creditors are – JPMorgan Chase and Merrill Lynch for example. Are we supposed to be surprised this is happening???

I like Steve Outing’s recommendations to newspaper CEOs in his “11 Points to Ponder” article (written on December 1, 2008):

photo credit: editorandpublisher.com

1. Issue and edict: Digital is First!
2. Consolidate print and online editing functions
3. Print edition: Don’t bother chasing young people
4. Print edition: Focus on the core demographic
5. Guide older print loyalists to a life online
6. Reduce the number of print editions
7. Online: Broaden definition of news to include micro-personal
8. Hire a social VP (I love this recommendation!)
   
9. Experiment, fail, experiment more (I’ve done this one)
   
10. Leverage your remaining staffers, and augment them
11. Consider retirement

Are we advancing or being “pulled” along?

I named this blog “THINK” with a subtitle of “Things that make ya go hmmm” – and I want to make sure I’m providing enough information that lives up to such a heading. I’ve challenge myself with this topic on a regular basis and I’d love to hear what others think about this as well…

We’re in this technological society that many would say is advancing us. However, I question who’s actually advancing and who’s being “pulled along” for the ride. I also question whether the supposed “advancement” is truly moving us ahead in the long-run, or merely serving a capitalistic need in the short-term.

As much as I’m a fan of the social Web and grateful for the many Citizen Journalists out there sharing and uncovering important events (like Harvard Medical School’s assistant professor Arun Shanbhag’s blog and Twitter coverage of the recent Mumbai attacks). I’m equally concerned about how far some people, businesses and government alike, are presenting this access under the guise of “research,” “competitive advantage, ” or one of the many other euphemisms floating around in our money-making/power-seeking world. It’s one thing to gather this information from others, but another to know how and where it’s being applied. Who’s benefiting from this information? How are they benefiting from it, and why???

What’s even scarier is when people volunteer to be followed or tracked by a company in exchange for a piece of technology – like the smartphone. This NYTimes article shares how young M.I.T. students agreed to have their every move tracked in exchange for a free smartphone. Is this ethical? Does it make it okay if these “kids” agree to that level of personal access? At what point, I wonder, will we begin to revolt against this access and revert back to simpler more private lives, where we can go about our daily activities without the threat of our actions being tracked?

It may not be too far off to consider that business and government are omniscient characters in a novel about your life. Our actions are tracked in many ways – credit card purchases and returns, phone calls made and received, Internet sites visited (including how long you stayed and what links you clicked) – and use of our passports to name a few. One blogger named Adam Berger posted a satirical entry about “How to stop the government from tracking you.”

I’m teaching a class this winter term called an “Intro to Social Media,” and I want to make sure I include a discussion about the ethics of the Social Web. There is a sense of responsibility that comes along with participating in social media and social marketing – both as the deliverer and the receiver. And I’d like to know what others think about the ubiquity of our lives in the advent of technology. If we’re advancing technologically does that also mean mean we’re advancing socially as humans? Grant it, I’m asking this question while I sit here at my laptop, blogging, monitoring my Twitter feeds, Facebook pages, groups, Google groups, other social networks, RSS feeds – and on and on…

The word “advancement” seems to be a relative term – what does it mean to you? What do you think?