Random Media Observations

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:06:00 +0000

Today I join the world of bloggers, wondering a bit whether anyone is really interested in the pontifications of another Ex-reporter, turned Marketing Pro.

Of course, the stats tell me a resounding yes! - people are bypassing traditional media avenues at a record pace, realizing the flexibility in expounding their own ideas, positions, causes and even cures.

Who knew there were so many control freaks out there, me included.

Direct access seems to be the other main appeal of blogs, podcasts and of social media in general.

Before our very eyes, traditional media as we know it is no more. From this old reporter's perspective, it's simply amazing, and I admit a tad overwhelming too.

We have moved from the reporter's cardinal rule of making sure we provide a complete story with ample resources to little snippets of surface information - 100 word briefs with no source, pieces never to be read "on paper," but rather optimized for search engines and linked to a video on You Tube, one that you can post to Twitter and Facebook in seconds.

I remember sitting in weekly newsroom staff meetings, listening to editors express concerns over declining readership. That was in the early 1990s, when this little thing called "electronic mail," (e-mail) was just coming over our unsuspecting horizon.

Before you surmise that I am heading down the road of longing for the past, I am not.

I don't lament for the past. I believe in moving forward as changing generations demand, but I confess I am a bit saddened at dying newspapers, and disappointed when I hear or see "articles" that leave me with more questions than answers.

Good journalism has largely suffered at the hands of an impatient reader who may or may not give us ten seconds of his time to inform him of something that may or may not truly impact his world.

Case in point: tonight when you watch the news or read your RSS feeds, ask yourself how many of the stories really impact you? How many of them can you do anything about? Food for thought until next time.

Writerworks Marketing & Project Management

Random Media Observations