Navigating the New Media Landscape
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IPI ReportProduced in Partnership with Uhe Poynter Institute Brave News Worlds Navigating the New Media Landscape Preface or the past three years, discussions about the future of the news media have centered Fon the decline of the so-called golden age of journalism and the descent into a chaos characterised by splintered audiences, decimated balance sheets, and the muscling-in of amateurs. Fearing that their halcyon days as the guardians of information are num- bered, many editors and journalists have engaged in collective navel-gazing, asking themselves: What went wrong? But is the future really so bleak? Is the decline a global phenomenon? Are we moving into a new ‘golden age’? And what does it mean for press freedom? To find answers to these pressing questions, the International Press Institute teamed up with the Poynter Institute, one of the premier journalism training centers in the world, to set out on a global investigation assembling an international group of editors, jour- nalists, visionaries and sceptics to discover how the future of the news is developing around the world. The result is that after a 10-year absence, the IPI Report series has returned, revamped and reinvigorated with a new edition entitled “Brave News Worlds”, a report that charts the exciting times ahead for the news media and uncovers the many different global perspectives thereof. Picking up where the IPI Report series left off in 2000, “Brave News Worlds” explores what the next 10 years hold for the news and journalism industry and offers insight into how journalists and non-journalists alike can take advantage of changes in the media and technology to make the future of news a bright one. Edited by Bill Mitchell, Head of the Poynter Institute’s Entrepreneurial Journalism and International Programs, the report brings together the greatly diverse perspectives of 42 editors, journalists and media experts from over 20 countries to tackle issues such as regulation and control, emerging forms of journalism and the power of the public, along with the need to reframe traditional news models to better engage with audi- ences. With a focus on effective solutions and lessons learned, but also providing stimulus for debate, this report is not a definitive map, but instead a compass, pointing us, the global media, in the right direction: To a sustainable and successful future for journalism. Lauren Dolezal Commissioning and Production Editor Contents 4 Introduction: Discovering New Value Along New 64 Lessons for Journalists in the Crowdsourcing of Crisis Routes for News Bill Mitchell Information Patrick Meier 68 Social Media as a First Draft of Journalism and a Rally- The Journey Ahead ing Cry for Democracy Endy M. Bayuni 71 Crowdsourcing Can Turn Fragmentation into Commu- The Evolution of News nity Jeff Howe 8 News as a Service to be Sustained Rather than a Prod- uct to be Sold Jeff Jarvis Emerging Forms of Journalism 12 Openness, Collaboration Key to New Information 74 Data and Journalism Form a Powerful Combination Ecosystem Alan Rusbridger Paul Bradshaw 15 How Technology Turned News into a Conversation 79 The Tablet Innovates News Presentation as Color Did in Turi Munthe 1970s Mario Garcia 18 The Shock of Inclusion and New Roles for News in the 82 From Adversaries to Allies: Professional and Citizen Fabric of Society Clay Shirky Journalists Need Each Other Solana Larsen 22 Fifth Estate Joins the Fourth in Push for Freedom of Expression and the Press William H. Dutton Traditional Concepts Reframed 85 How Niche Journalism Works for Politico Bill Nichols 88 Building a Cabin and a Blog Create Foundation for The Role of Journalists Community Louis Ureneck 26 The Journalism Business and Business of Journalism 92 The Future of TV News Belongs, in Part, to Multi-Plat- Must Align More Closely in the Future Roy Greenslade form Video Steve Herrmann 30 The Irony of Editors and Democracy Alex Jones 95 New Online Tools Usher in Golden Age of Global 33 In the New Media Rush for Instant News, Where are the Muckraking Sheila S. Coronel Journalists? Alison Bethel McKenzie 36 Newsroom Structures and Cultures Limit Journalism Ownership Innovation Jean-François Fogel 98 Government Support Obliges Australian Broadcasting 39 Three Tasks for Journalism: Control Costs, Embrace Corporation to Innovate and Diversify Mark Scott New Ways, Believe in the Business Paul Tash 102 Nonprofit Ownership is No Panacea; New Models 42 Reinvention of Journalism Marked by Seven Key Needed for New Times Karen B. Dunlap Features & Six Critical Steps Dan Gillmor 105 Conclusions from Paths with Promise: Time to ‘Skill Up’ on 10 Promising Paths Bill Mitchell The State of Law, Regulation and Media Freedom 45 Legal Threats to Privacy, Free Speech Appear Over the Horizon Geoffrey Robertson Reports from the Road 49 Legislation and Libel Laws Erode Press Freedom, Jeop- ardizing Democracy Robin Esser 106 Media Face Different Difficulties in Less Mature 52 Media Freedom in a New Media Landscape Damian Markets Fernando Samaniego Tambini 109 From the United States: Old-School Storytelling 55 Defending Freedom of Expression on the Internet Using New-School Tools Steve Buttry Susan Pointer 112 From China: Competition Over News Intensifies in China, as Internet Offers Alternative Coverage 59 Conclusions from The Journey Ahead: Trends and Yuen-Ying Chan Tips to Build the Business and Enhance the Craft 116 From Malaysia: Independent Malaysian News Bill Mitchell Site Shores Up its Pay Wall with Innovation Premesh Chandran Paths with Promise 119 From South Africa: Citizen Journalism Project Offers Case Study in Collaboration Steven Lang T he Power of the People 121 From South Africa: Telling the Stores Left Untold by 60 Providing Platforms for Community Involvement in Gaps in Wealth and Bandwidth Ferial Haffajee Journalism as a Social Good Grzegorz Piechota 2 IPI REPORT 125 From Kenya: Telling African Stories the African Brave News Worlds Way Salim Amin 128 From Burma: Peeking Behind Burma's Bamboo IPI Interim Director and Publisher Curtain Soe Myint Alison Bethel McKenzie 131 From India: Media in India Poised to Grow Rapidly Rajesh Kalra Editor in Chief 134 From Russia: Digital Publishing Empowering a Bill Mitchell New Technology in Russia, but is it Journalism? Andrei Soldatov Commissioning & Production Editor 137 From Colombia: La Silla Vacía Models How the Internet Lauren Dolezal Encourages Press Freedom in Colombia Juanita León 140 From Jordan: Digital Technology Fuels both Commissioning Editor Oppressive Governments and Media Freedom in Michael Kudlak Arab World Daoud Kuttab 143 From Nigeria: NN24, Birth of an African Channel Managing Editor Anthony Dara Julie Moos 146 From Japan: Tracking the New York Rangers Hockey Team from Tokyo: A Personal Tale of Media Consump- Layout and Design Editor tion Takashi Tanemura Stefan Fuhrer, Fuhrer Visuelle Gestaltung 149 Conclusions: 10 Waypoints Tagged to the Future of IPI Press Freedom & Publications Manager News Bill Mitchell Anthony Mills Sales & Marketing Grace Pardy Producer Lindenau Productions,1030 Vienna, Austria Printed By Druckerei Holzhausen, 1140 Vienna, Austria ISBN 978-3-9503007-1-0 The International Press Institute Spiegelgasse 2 1010 Vienna, Austria www.freemedia.at All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. IPI REPORT 3 Introducing IPI’s 60th Anniversary Report: Discovering New Value Along New Routes for News To make the report as useful as possible, we have attached tags and summaries to the first page of each article, easy for you to scan – based on your own interests – during your initial run through the pages that follow. In a concluding essay on page 149, I list 10 of the tags that emerge for me as especially useful way- points through the report – and through the next few years for journalism. The report will also be available in digital formats, with details available at www.poynter.org/futureofnews. Exploring journalism’s critical issues is a fitting way to mark the By Bill Mitchell first 60 years of the International Press Institute, launched in Oc- tober 1950 by a group of 34 editors from 15 countries meeting at Columbia University in New York. Those editors focused on the promotion and protection of press freedom and the improvement of journalistic practices. They founded the new organization on a bold and simple premise: that a free press would contribute to the creation of a better world. ot that long ago, journalism’s transition from analog to Ndigital looked a whole lot simpler, the road ahead appearing Creating News in New Shapes and Sizes nearly as straight and narrow as orderly packets of bytes zipping The original shape of that free press has been disrupted, especially down the line one after another. in recent years, by fundamental shifts in the ways news animates our civic lives and supports itself financially. For a time, we even relied on a metaphor that, in retrospect, rings laughably naive. The Information Super Highway has been over- The free press, 60 years on, is sustained by a range of practitioners taken by a messier thicket of trails, many of which lead nowhere. and initiatives never imagined by those editors gathered in Morn- And yet, with renewed signs of reportorial resolve stirring around ingside Heights at the midpoint of the last century. the globe, journalists and non-journalists alike are uncovering paths that hold the promise of informing more people, more thor- Whether you’re a working journalist, a newsroom boss or a busi- oughly, than ever before. ness-side executive, these essays offer evidence and insight useful in shaping your own view of journalism’s future – and the steps From Bogota to Burma, from Warsaw to Washington, they – we – you’ll take to realize it.