State of the D&C and the Net
DragonFlyEye makes a good point about permalinks and the local media:
I wonder what people’s thoughts are concerning the media’s obligation to provide information? I mean, one of the continual annoyances I face is bookmarking or linking to an article in a news website only to have it go away. Why is that? Storage can’t be a consideration, so then what is it? You can search this site for any post I’ve ever done and find it, but if you want an article more than a week old on the D&C, forget it.
For what I can tell, City News doesn’t make dead links. The link to a piece profiling our efforts from two weeks ago is still working, for example.
Speaking of City News, they’re running an article about the D&C right now. The gist of the article is that as readership is falling (even more than the national average), our local Gannett-owned daily is trying new approaches, mainly by focusing on it’s web page and trying niche publications. From the article:
Along with Insider, it publishes Rochester Magazine, a slick, life-style magazine that is delivered free to homes in some high-end zip codes and is available for purchase on newsstands; Big Auto Book, an auto-advertising publication; Her, a magazine geared toward women; and ConXion, which bills itself as “your connection to all things Latin.”
As for the D&C website:
Company-wide, Gannett has placed a heavy focus on the internet. The D&C has been adapting corporate’s Information Center concept - a push to make the website not just a clearinghouse for news, but also rich in multimedia content like slideshows and interactive content such as searchable databases.
And the day’s news goes on the website before it appears in print the following morning.
“We no longer consider the newspaper our breaking-news platform,” Flynn said.
It certainly makes sense to put more of a focus on the internet in an age when millions of consumers use internet news. (Image from britainandamerica.typepad.com)
Both a robust web site and increased local coverage would seem to synergize well with the rise of the internet. Your customers can use the New York Times or BBC News for their international needs, and you can ignore all that, and use your freed-up staff to focus on more local affairs.
However, all is not well with this arrangement:
“We cannot fulfill as we once did our traditional mission of chronicling the day-to-day events and the longer-term trends in metro Rochester,” Orr wrote.
…
“A big part of watching out for the public interest is slogging through routine reports, sitting through public meetings, and pestering elected officials with frequent questions,” Orr wrote. “We still do that, but not nearly as much as we used to.”
Emphasis mine.
This is a big problem. You’d think that with the rise of the net, transcripts of public meetings and a more open government would make it easier for reporters to do their traditional jobs. Oh wait. The County Government is the very antithesis of open government.
That doesn’t excuse our local media. If you want to have a hyper-local focus, fine. But part of local reporting is local politics. Or is a local spelling bee more important than undemocratic, unanimously opposed corporate handouts?
Interestingly enough, the Washington Post covered the reform efforts of the Gannette chain more than a year ago. (Notice how I can read old articles for free? And using the original links, too!)
One relevant passage:
The chain’s papers are redirecting their newsrooms to focus on the Web first, paper second. Papers are slashing national and foreign coverage and beefing up “hyper-local,” street-by-street news. They are creating reader-searchable databases on traffic flows and school class sizes. Web sites are fed with reader-generated content, such as pictures of their kids with Santa. In short, Gannett — at its 90 papers, including USA Today — is trying everything it can think of to create Web sites that will attract more readers.
This is all well and good. I love some of the new web tools the D&C has put up. (Hyper) Local news is probably the wave of the future. However, do we really need to abandon traditional newspaper objectives? The D&C is pursuing these reforms in the name of profit. They should replenish and restore their traditional function of covering government, however, in the name of the Fourth Estate.
It especially shouldn’t retroactively censor affiliates that try to pick up their slack.
Very cool info.
Thank you!
This might be off topic, but when you discuss the ‘liberal media’ it reminds me of our local public broadcasting operation here in Rochester. Mind you I have nothing against NPR or PBS; both are fine organizations and offer quality programming and news. What concerns me is that during WXXI pledge drives the theme always seems to focus on the need for donations to keep the stations on the air. Granted public donations do make up a large part of WXXI’s operating budget. However when I see that the CEO and President of WXXI, along with the Senior Vice President, and several top executives make over a half-million dollars a year, that concerns me. The CEO alone makes over $350,000 and that does not include a new gas-guzzling SUV every two years, plus having his medical and other policies paid for by donation dollars. I find it repulsive that someone working for a non profit company, which is always crying the ‘poverty blues’ has the audacity to go on the radio and TV asking for money when that same person makes more than the Governor of New York. If WXXI wants to trim its budget, start with the salaries paid to their top executives.