[LINK] On Clicks, Paywalls and the Survival of Jouralism

[Tom Koltai]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: link-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au 
> [mailto:link-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au] On Behalf Of 
> stephen at melbpc.org.au
> Sent: Tuesday, 1 November 2011 5:18 PM
> To: Roger Clarke; link at anu.edu.au
> Cc: dearnek at theaustralian.com.au
> Subject: Re: [LINK] On Clicks, Paywalls and the Survival of Jouralism
> 
> 
> Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2011 12:48:19 +1100
> From: "Dearne, Karen" <dearnek at theaustralian.com.au>
><SNIP>
> So if you want people like me to spend hours trawling through annual
> reports and trying to wrest answers from politicians, then you'll 
> have to stump up yr $3 a week from next year.
> <SNIP>
> Thanks for forwarding Karen's behind-the-scenes peek Roger & 
> your comments
> 
> Another aspect to journalism in future may be one of more 
> crowd-sourcing 
> of news etc. Though this will obviously also become a double 
> edged sword, 
> in terms of a boon for lazy journalists no long pounding 
> their beat it'll also allow professional journalists such as 
> Karen more time in the office to research and background 
> crowd-sourced news and commentary. Maybe even, with future 
> apps, encourage anonymous wiki-leaks type news etc tips? But, 
> inevitably, the role of journalism and news publishing will 
> surely change and adapt, but, this growth may well lead to 
> even better news services.
> 
> "Newsforce app for readers to contribute to news"  October 31st, 2011.
> 
> Advertiser Newspapers Pty Limited have launched a phone app to allow 
> readers to share news tips, video and photos with the 
> newsrooms of the 
> Advertiser, Sunday Mail and Adelaide Now.
> 


WikiNews has to date been rather lacklustre yet as today's generation
matures, Socially relevant news to their wave/circle('s) will be
generated by the people they went to school with. 

Newsforce will teach citizen journalists how to become self editing
journalists and Facebook updates and Twitterings will no doubt benefit
greatly as a result (Thanks Rupert).

The problem with Newspapers has always been that the pre-internet Cabal
controls the level of news that one is permitted to read/hear.

You are unlikely to hear about the takeover of a Fortune 500 company
before it occurs because that information is restricted to friends and
family of the participants. 

Our education institutions used to be the breeding ground for these
Cabals where lifelong relationships were formed amongst persons with a
similar background.

Today, those friendships are just as likely to be formed on Facebook
(playing Farmville) and Twitter by following a friend of a friend. 

The exponential growth of interest groups, that is a group whose
interest is to benefit in some manner from being a member has grown past
the WASP, Phi Beta Kappa alumni BFF model.

The $3.00 per week for an investigative journo to review documents that
they don't understand and attempt to present the contents so that the
average no-english-spoken-at-home citizen (that now constituents the
largest part of our population,) can understand what is written on a web
page that they will never go to is obviously doomed to fail.

Why ?

Because the demographic of the average newspaper reader leans extremely
towards the WASP end of the scale.
The opposite end of the scale, The Non-WASP contingent, are all members
of community groups that adhere religiously to the friends and family
mantra. Look after friends and family first.

I think that innovations similar to Google Circles with the Australian
invented Wave will be the News Broadcast medium of the future. Mainly
because of the Internet's ability to make irrelevant the cultural
hegemony of the Newspaper era.

Our immigrants, emerging as many did from countries where the omnipotent
state normally gave instructions inclusive of bowel movement timing,
have grown up wary of "the official line" and distrust (the _perceived_
government owned) newspaper and Television News broadcasts.
I didn't say don't watch/read... But where there is little trust, there
is also little reason to fork out $3.00 per week. Regardless of the good
intent of today's Journalists to remain gainfully employed.

As erudite and logical as Karen sounded, the kids camping on Wall Street
(etc) no longer believe the official line.

TomK