Ideas of journalism: Facing an uncertain media future
Published: October 19, 2009
A series of occasional links pointing to essays I think seriously examine the way we get our knowledge about how the world is, was, will be, might be, or should be — commonly understood as journalism. I’ll sometimes include some questions of my own underneath the summary. Have a suggestion? Let me know.
Much of what Mark Scott, the Managing Director of the Australian Broadcast Company, says in a recent lecture is less of an argument than a recapitulation of the past: The story of media barons who once ruled and the swift destruction of their empires.
What now? Scott is more existentialist than determinist, who believes that “the fate of our organisations lies with us.” Under this assumption, he lists what he sees as those realities news media need to recognize to survive.
One such reality is that the news media must provide quality content and free their users from restrictions on how they can experience it. The goal is no longer to solely drive viewers to a Web site. Instead, the data must be equally enjoyable on Facebook or a mobile phone.
A second reality is that users need more power and trust invested in them. Scott is actually brief on this point, but he believes it enough to say, “If we are to survive as anything more than a shell … this is what we must do.
There are other similar points, such as giving innovators space to work rather than buying them or attempting to crush them, and the importance of diversification on the part of media owners (a lá The Washington Post).
But perhaps the significance of the speech, as Jay Rosen noted on Twitter, comes from the source: A media executive, albeit for a public broadcaster, embracing both uncertainty and the general public’s developing role in journalism.
Ideas of journalism: Facing an uncertain media future
A series of occasional links pointing to essays I think seriously examine the way we get our knowledge about how the world is, was, will be, might be, or should be — commonly understood as journalism. I’ll sometimes include some questions of my own underneath the summary. Have a suggestion? Let me know.
Much of what Mark Scott, the Managing Director of the Australian Broadcast Company, says in a recent lecture is less of an argument than a recapitulation of the past: The story of media barons who once ruled and the swift destruction of their empires.
What now? Scott is more existentialist than determinist, who believes that “the fate of our organisations lies with us.” Under this assumption, he lists what he sees as those realities news media need to recognize to survive.
One such reality is that the news media must provide quality content and free their users from restrictions on how they can experience it. The goal is no longer to solely drive viewers to a Web site. Instead, the data must be equally enjoyable on Facebook or a mobile phone.
A second reality is that users need more power and trust invested in them. Scott is actually brief on this point, but he believes it enough to say, “If we are to survive as anything more than a shell … this is what we must do.
There are other similar points, such as giving innovators space to work rather than buying them or attempting to crush them, and the importance of diversification on the part of media owners (a lá The Washington Post).
But perhaps the significance of the speech, as Jay Rosen noted on Twitter, comes from the source: A media executive, albeit for a public broadcaster, embracing both uncertainty and the general public’s developing role in journalism.
Read: Mark Scott, “The Fall of Rome: Media After Empire,” available (with additional commentary) as a PDF from Crikey.
NB: Mark Scott is @abcmarkscott on Twitter.