"If advertising and journalism are forever linked we will not have a problem. However, I don't think it will be forever linked. All the trends are that the journalism and advertising are decoupling. So if advertising is no longer subsidising journalism, then what? Where will the money come from to pay journalists a decent, living wage?"
That is the million dollar question. I found this on a blog from the Public Journalism Network website. How will journalists be paid in an age of cyber-news? I then found one theory being tested: pay-per view journalism. This theory is outlined in Nicholas Carr's blog: Rough Type. He revealed that Steve Rubel from CNET is trialling the payment of bloggers based on the amount of page views they generate. Rubel is using this as a trial, which will probably take about a year, but Carr said it is "inevitable".
Carr continues by arguing that, "Online publishing breaks the old bundled-content model of print publishing". Furthermore, "Once content moves online, writers are no longer contributing to the overall value of a package - a newspaper or a magazine, say. Each of their stories becomes a discrete product." This is true. When you go online you can isolate a particular story. You do not have to open up to page 35 to read more. You go where you want to go. And page five does not necessarily follow on directly from page four. Consumers can flick from Stephanie Rice to Garfield and back to Iemma's power dilemma in an instant and in any particular order. This definitely breaks away from the traditional "package" and "bundle" model outlined by Carr. And it definitely highlights the need for pay-by-view journalism unless more advertising is directed online. Whether or not this is the best model, I am unsure, but at least it provides a way to fund journalism, at least online journalism, into the future.
Any thoughts?
2 comments:
Josh,
You have covered the readings very thorough this week with in depth knowledge and understanding of the topic at hand. Its excellent how you combine the readings, your own views on the subject matter and then manage to tie in examples and websites to visit. I really like the way you outline and set your blog out it looks and sounds fantastic! Who knows maybe an online journalist in the making?
I agree with you once again that stand alone journalism is shaping the future for journalists. It seems its heading that way and im sure in the future there will be a vast number of journalists opting for this path.
Its funny isn't it that we wouldn't pay for online content. I personally like a hard copy of the newspaper. I like investigative journalism so i would pay for that if i couldn't get a hard copy of the paper however, it doesn't really interest me to go online and read the news. I believe much of the content is lost on online news and stories are shortened and are very brief compared to the newspaper and people tend to skim more and glance over stories. plus this may sound trivial however i think you lose focus reading online as you tend to become more tired. I believe its a sad commentary on modern journalism that in the future most if not all of the newspapers will go online, it's seems as though this is the way of the future for print journalism.
If you are to continue working in the field of journalism particulary print journalism how do you feel about this?
Thankyou very much again for the kind words. Very much appreciated. But in terms of my online knowledge - it is very limited, I just try and make it look, feel and read as simply and as interestingly as possible. I'm glad it works for someone.
As for stand alone journalists, could you see yourself pursuing this path? Why or why not?
I have to admit, I am a sucker for a newspaper as well. I don't completely understand why but I am. Maybe it's because Dad brought them home all the time or I, like you, prefer reading things in hard copy rather than on a computer screen. But give me a newspaper over a website any day. The website should be simply used in a complimentary fashion, although, we both know this isn't happening and more and more people are reading online. Maybe because it is free and we are cheap, Uni students or maybe online is more comfortable for more people today.
Whatever, the case may be, online is becoming more and more relevant with each and every second and with each and every Google search. But what do you think the ultimate result will be for newspapers? Do you think they will survive?
As for me working in the industry, I find it both a scary and a positive move. In terms of the Maitland Mercury, where I work, the online presence gives people overseas, formally from the area, a chance to access news from home, plus it gives the paper a presence online along side other media outlets. But in the same sense you don't want people from Maitland not buying the paper and just looking online. However, if you just look online, which I do on occasions, you do not get the whole newspaper experience even if you only want certain parts of it, which is why the daily churn is so important. Furthermore, many people in the area can not get the Internet, do not have access to the internet, or do not know how to use the internet, therefore increasing the importance of a local newspaper because it is the only paper which serves the people of Maitland with its own news.
Overall, it is a two way street. I believe the online presence should be embraced but never to detract from the production of the newspaper itself.
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