Newspapers ARE Content, Stupid

I actually lose sleep over the "death of newspapers" trend, and admit my perspective is skewed by that.

I find it ironic that NYT, Washington Post, and some other distinguished dinosaurs are apparently leading the way in developing a new media industry called "content marketing."

Weren't newspapers the original "content" industry? and can this new iteration of "content" save the news?

God I hope so.

~Diane Stresing

#crankywriter

Warren Buffet Believes in Reporting

"I believe newspapers that intensively cover their communities will have a good future" -- Warren Buffet, June 2012 message to employees of the newspapers he owns.

Apparently Moody's doesn't share his view, at least as a short-term investment.

What do you think?

~Diane Stresing

How many professional organizations do we need?

I understand and feel the sadness shared by many as the American Press Institute closes, but I challenge those who were so quick to jump into the OMG, it's another nail-in-the-coffin discussion.

Is it? Or perhaps should at least some of those headlines be rewritten to include the word merge? This is one of the many times I want to jump up and down and scream, "what were we taught in J-school, anyway?!" See, API didn't whither away; it merged with NAA. And the merge wasn't a last-gasp; API had five years (at least) of operating expenses in the bank when it merged with NAA. Five years to re-invest, reinvent itself, or look around and realize that there are a dozen or so professional organizations offering education, direction, and memberships to journalists and maybe it makes sense to combine the talents of those organizations.

I think that's how I'd write the story.
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On a related note, at least one astute Washington Post reader asked a question I'd like to hear the paper's response to. Why did that article run in the Lifestyle section? File that under "things that make me say, hmmm."
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Look, API was a highly respected, unquestionably professional organization, and much as it will be missed, I repeat, it just might not be needed - thanks to several other, similarly professional and well-respected organizations. RIP API. RIP, indeed.
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~Diane Stresing

When an Apology Isn't an Apology

Today's post was inspired by Rush Limbaugh, this week's poster child for what every mother doesn't want her kid to grow up to be. Not the first time he's had the distinction, but this time, the radio talk show host illustrates an important point, or two: words can hurt, and sometimes an apology really isn't one at all.

If you haven't had enough yet of the ridiculous hoopla Limbaugh started by publicly berating a Georgetown law student advocating that birth control pills be included in employer health care coverage, here's what ABC news posted Saturday afternoon: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/rush-limbaugh-apologizes-calling-sandra-fluke-slut/story?id=15841687#.T1OwxMyeOGJ

The labels Limbaugh trumpeted so loudly and illogically* last week weren't impromptu or thoughtless. They were scripted. Just like the apology he issued on Sunday, which read in part, "My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices." 

Sincerely? I doubt it. For a man who makes his living in words, this was a poor excuse for sincerity and if the apology was an attempt at wry humor, it failed in that regard, too. 

It's just like the clerk who says "yeh" or "there ya go" when the expression that's called for is "thank you." Sadly, Limbaugh makes boatloads of money for his caustic expressions. To further insult our intelligence or further his brand (redundant, come to think about it - insulting people an excellent way to characterize his brand) he went on to dismiss President Obama's call to Sandra Fluke as a way of checking "to make sure she's OK."

Yeh. There ya' go, Rush. Way to clear that up for the nation.

 *sometimes "zig-zag" is the best way to describe the radio host's thought process

Quit sensationalizing news. Especially tragedies.

Of course we're all saddened and sick with grief and confusion over Monday's horrible tragedy in Chardon. Parents and teens probably feel it a little differently, but we all feel it. It's a human tragedy and a horrible thing. And I suppose, if I had a really magnanimous personality, I could excuse as "human nature" the news media's coverage of the event and its aftermath.

But I'm not that big-hearted or understanding. Even as I reeled from the shock of the initial reports, I was disgusted by my fellow journalists (?!) and their complete lack of respect for the victims' families, for the accused shooter(s), and for the privacy of witnesses who were certainly in a fragile state.

It's not how I was taught that professional journalists behave, and I wouldn't feel like one myself if I didn't state my objections publicly, somehow. There. This is it.

Shaking off my righteous indignation at the sorry state of my local news media (I have plenty left over for the national media) I have to say in this case, the platforms of Facebook and Twitter have been less sensational, and more humane and helpful, in their "coverage."

What can we do? I don't know. I'm sad and confused, like everyone else. I'm not giving up on the news media, and on journalists in general. I still believe it is a profession, and many will stand up to prove it, even now. More importantly, I have faith in our collective humanity, and believe that each of us will offer to others - friends, strangers, and even, especially, people we don't like or understand - an extra measure of kindness going forward. If that's through Facebook, OK. If it's a photo of a flower on a textbook on Pinterest, so be it. I won't be looking at local "reporting" vehicles for perspective on this tragedy, however.

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Live and let live

Thanks to The Quill - in its 100th year - for highlighting this 60-second spot as something of a Valentine to journalists. The brief video shares a few gems the world might have missed (or learned of far too late) if not for journalists.

I'm proud to say I love journalists, on Valentine's Day and every day.

Thanks, Quill, SPJ, and journalists everywhere.

- - - -
Watch it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xlVx6za3Vo&feature=colike

Handy Journalism Toolbox

Thank you @JournToolBox for this DIY Freedom of Information Act letter template.

http://www.splc.org/legalassistance/foiletter.asp

Expert Communication

What 'the experts' say is probably no more informed than what your drunk uncle has to say. But HOW they say it, huh, that's what makes 'em experts. News consumers, beware.

Newsweek's News, and Mine

In its May 18 issue (on stands last week, God love the publishing industry's little quirks) Newsweek had some 'insider' news - that Anna Quindlen is stepping aside and the magazine is about to unveil a brand new design, on thicker paper, and sans celebrity 'news.'

I was as happy about the latter as I was unhappy about Quindlen's announcement. I noted that she carefully didn't use the word "retiring;" and also, as usual, her essay was both lucid and enlightening.

As news should be. Because really, "just the facts, ma'am" is just a slogan. The news business is, always has been, always better be, an information industry - meaning the facts come with some sort of analysis.

This point was made, many times, very eloquently, and never redundantly, at an Ohio Professional Writers meeting held at WKSU on Saturday. Celebrated columnist Connie Schultz made it most eloquently, I thought, when she directed her message to the youngest attendees, a dozen or so high school and college students.

Schultz warned the young journalist to not get lost in the busy-ness of the business. To take time off amid the hustle and bustle of an industry that seems to demand 160-character stories be filed every 30 seconds. Take time off, she said, because it's the only way to preserve your sanity and physical health (this message was very brief, of course; what 20-year-old really knows they'll be 40 someday?) and because it will make you a better communicator. A little life experience - getting drunk with friends counts! - helps a young cub grow up and into someone mature enough to ferret out the facts and present them fairly, regardless of one's own personal interpretation; a person who can then turn around and offer a logical and informed analysis.

At its best, the news business does that. In my hopes and prayers, it will continue to do so here in the good ol' USA and beyond.

So good luck, Newsweek. Count me among your readers who look forward to the 'new you.'

As for the 'new me,' there isn't one, but I am renewed. Since I was laid off in February, I've had time to worry, take on too many freelance assignments to be good for me, and consider seriously a mid-life career change.

I'm staying. That's the news for now. After I've had a chance to drink this over with a few friends, I'll be ready to analyze it.



*OPW is an affiliate of the National Federation of Press Women, which is open to both genders.

Who Should Bail Out Newspapers?

No one disputes that a strong media is important for democracy, but the core issue is what that media should look like.

-- from Sonia Arrison's thoughtful and thought-provoking article at TechNewsWorld. Read it all here .

Yay! A New Use for Old Writers

Thanks to an innovative plan at Stonybrook University and a grant from the James L. Knight Foundation, 50 laid-off journalists are about to get new jobs teaching "news literacy" to non-journalism college majors.

I love this!