What should newspapers do?
In an interview in the Onion AV Club, Dave Eggers, whose McSweeney's recently published a one-shot idealized newspaper called the San Francisco Panorama, argued: "Newspapers are gonna have to think, 'Okay, what can we do uniquely well? What are we gonna give you that can’t be had anywhere else?'" He suggests papers open the door more widely to local freelancers who cn provide livelier and more diverse mix.
Meanwhile, in the Atlantic, Michael Kinsley advised newspapers to drop the set of formulas that continue to shape their stories -- from the inverted pyramid to "providing context" ("an invitation to hype") to "quotes from strangers restating the reporter's opinion."
The software industry has a concept known as “legacy code,” meaning old stuff that is left in software programs, even after they are revised and updated, so that they will still work with older operating systems. The equivalent exists in newspaper stories, which are written to accommodate readers who have just emerged from a coma or a coal mine. Who needs to be told that reforming health care (three words) involves "a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s health care system" (nine words)? Who needs to be reminded that Hillary Clinton tried this in her husband’s administration without success? Anybody who doesn’t know these things already is unlikely to care. (Is, in fact, unlikely to be reading the article.)
"Cut this story!" Kinsley's piece was headlined. Reuters' Robert MacMillan quipped:
@bobbymacReuters: Michael Kinsley might write that newspaper articles are too long, but he sure doesn't write it short.
Swallowing tablets
The tweetstream ran over with speculation about Apple's apparently forthcoming tablet computer (there's an announcement scheduled for Jan. 27). In response to David Carr's Monday column, which argued that the new device might help save traditional media companies, Michael Wolff (whose Newser site's motto, "Read Less, Know More" might please Kinsley) responded with "The Apple Tablet Won't Save David Carr":
"The tablet,"" you say, "represents an opportunity to renew the romance between printed material and consumer."
In other words, you want the experience of print to be replicated through a new medium, exactly the thing Marshall McLuhan said doesn’t happen: Rather, a new medium relentlessly creates its own experience and message and, let me add, business model.... Your suggestion that Apple and iTunes have saved the music business would be news to anyone in that dying industry stuck now with Apple’s pricing.... Your problem, I believe, is not just an uncomplicated view about technology, but a singular -- and ever-greater it seems -- loyalty you have to your employer, the New York Times. In your view, the future must preserve the Times or it is a lesser, even illegitimate, one. That's a pretty tortured and conflicted position for somebody writing about what's happening in the media business. Indeed, your opinions seem always in lock step with the people or developments that you believe will help save your own job.
Meanwhile, Engadget covered of Hearst's entry in the tablet market, a flexible e-reader called Skiff. The photo showed a replica of an SF Chronicle front page on the device's screen.Seamus Condron pointed out the McLuhanesque irony:
@SeamusCondron: The fact the Skiff promo pics show a newspaper formatted exactly like print version is proof that publishers shouldn't build e-devices
Icons for our time
A link promising a list of "10 Iconic Journalists Every JStudent Should Study" began circulating, but as people began to notice the, um, obvious nature of the list -- Bob Woodward! Walter Cronkite! Gee, thanks! -- first came the objections:
@greglinch: That "10 iconic journos" link people are tweeting (was sent to me directly asking for promo) looks like pure content marketing for a biz.
Then the parody:
Retweetings of the link continued.
Tea time for Brooks
Much discussion of David Brooks' Monday column suggesting that the Tea Party movement might become a powerful force in U.S. politics:
@GregMitch: David Brooks boosts tea partiers, while claiming he is not a fan.
@GregMitch: Funny that David Brooks in his Tea Party column fails to mention big test so far -- blowing that GOP seat in New York.
@dankennedy_nu: Funny how sympathetic commentaries on tea partiers never mention blacks, Latinos. Don't think they're joining.
Touche:
@brianstelter: "Research is fun. Writing is hard." --Robert Caro in Esquire. True.
@editorialiste: in the age of the blog, i'd argue that the reverse is just as true.
Isn't that an Onion headline? Department:
TechCrunch: "Social Network Removes 5,000 Users For Putting On Weight During Holiday Season"
Time to read one thing:
Kinsley's Atlantic piece, "Cut this story!"
