How journalism can meet the challenges of

digital contentProfessor George Brock

Head of JournalismCity University London

Saudi Research & Marketing Group annual meetingJeddah, January 2011

My approach today•Human knowledge and

communication are changing in fundamental ways • Analysis• Toolkit•Q&A

“Zoom out” from journalism

• A thought experiment: please imagine yourself in the German city of Mainz in 1458

• You are conducting market research on the effects of a new invention: printing.

• We are at the beginning of long-lasting, multiple waves of change. The future will confound expectations. Repeatedly.

• Get used to it.

Consumers of news think differently

• Digital is not just a new publishing platform• Ideas and definitions of “news” and

“journalism” are up for grabs• Perceptions of value are changing• Not only journalism is changed: privacy,

democracy, money, handwriting, books, maps, teaching, music, culture, society, communication

• Information is now in glut

Journalism’s context now• New problem: information overload• Journalism was decoupled from distribution:

locating it is now harder• Every news outlet can be compared with

anything• Online news is exploring story-telling • Audiences are changing shape, fragmenting• Content is king, but collaboration is queen• The web is going mobile

Basic issues• Digital ends the dominance of one-to-many

publishing (but does not end newspapers)• Journalism’s audience may (or may not) be

captivated, but it is no longer captive• The perceived value of mainstream journalism

is in question• What value do journalists add?• How can that value be monetised?

Back to first principles• If anyone can publish, what defines

journalism? • What is journalism for? To establish the truth

of what matters to a society• 4 components of journalism that– Are best done by people with practised and

accumulated skills– Can’t be done by algorithms

The “core” of journalism• Verification• Sense-making• Eye-witness• Investigation

JOURNALISM:A SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths• Service to society/informed citizens• Relied upon, trusted• Independent• Established brands• News is not entertainment• Practised, professional skills

Weaknesses• No longer dominates supply of information• Locked into newspaper “bundle”• Taken for granted• Reliance on written word• Print has high costs and is slow• Inflexibility of organisations• Small number of income streams

Opportunities• Re-invention of journalism for new age• Greater reach• New ways of telling stories (or new ways of

cooking eggplant)• Bringing more talent to bear• More journalists go back to school

Threats• Won’t experiment or adapt fast enough• New competitors: if established media lose

the plot, the blogosphere will take over• Content is neglected because of

preoccupation with platforms• The idea of journalism gets lost

How does journalism handle this?

• Focus the value• Journalism won’t grow or innovate in print• Public service must be clear• Forget “disintermediation”. Think “re-

intermediation”• Experiment – all the time. Throw spaghetti!• Dump market research; hire anthropologists.• Find the demand; supply it (feedback needed)• Paywalls?

Managing change • Involve everyone (fast, slow, senior, junior)• Stress rebalancing between platforms• Focus on creative relationships• The importance of newsroom floor-planning is

exaggerated• Try not to hire consultants• Set deadlines

Danger! Don’t…• Hollow out editorial strength• Neglect the importance of words• Rely on broad-interest content “bundles”• Develop one, big expensive plan (develop lots)• Blame Google and Facebook for problems• Confuse platforms with content• Ever assume that change has finished

Do…• Pay attention to younger voices• Understand the pattern of the user’s day• Expect consolidation• Join the argument about regulations (governments

rarely “get” the web)• Go with the grain of the web– Links with everything– Promote individual items and authors– Sites are encyclopaedias as well– Geolocation

A case study

Hard questions• Is the content original?• Is the package unbeatable?• Can a competitor replicate any of it?• Does it meet the users’ expectations?• Do you have verifiable, open data on that?• Can you make money from it?• Ask these question of The Daily next week• Are you ahead of the next curve?

An iPad app is just the start“The idea of having 15 different apps constantly

on my iPad screen just to occasionally read a single issue of one (or redownloading a magazine app just to get the one issue that I want to read that year) is impractical and cumbersome.”

Alex Wilhelm, TNW, Jan 2011

In case you’re still wondering…

…Journalism can – and will - meet the challenges of digital content.

Thank you

• Blog: www.georgebrock.net

• Twitter: @georgeprof

• City University: www.city.ac.uk/journalism

• This presentation will appear on slideshare.com