New Media vs. Old Media

Five Ways New Media Will Save Old Media By Mathew Ingram Communities Editor, The Globe and Mail

- old media needs to be saved - old media can be saved - old media should be saved Three implicit assumptions:

Does old media need to be saved?

- revenues dropping - circulation stagnant at best - newspapers going under

Let's call that one “proven”

Can old media be saved?

I believe that it can... ...but I admit I have no proof this is true

What do we mean when we say “saved?” If we mean returning media entities to previous levels of profitability, then no

Should old media be saved?

I believe that it should... ...but I have no proof that this is true either

- accuracy - independence - sense of trust Old or “traditional” media has many strengths:

Not salvation, but evolution We must teach the fish to walk on its fins

Not “old” but “traditional” media All we need to do is add to those traditions – or change them

A new ethic of journalism that includes reader interaction

My evolution: 10 years ago, I was a “traditional” journalist

I called people up, asked them irritating questions, wrote down what they said and then put it in the newspaper.

Then: I stopped writing columns and started writing a blog.

Two very powerful changes: 1) people could link to what I wrote, promoting it to their friends and others

2) people could comment on what I wrote, telling me when I was wrong, or adding information

Those two fundamental changes encapsulate all the ways media has changed and is changing

Five Ways New Media Will Save Old Media

1) By enlarging the size of the media pie - tools are cheap, widely distributed - more sources of media = better - unless you see it as a priesthood

2) by making media a process instead of a product - real events don't occur in neat, time-specific packages. That was an outgrowth of a specific platform

3) by making media human - people look for trusted filters - more information = more filters - we earn trust by being human

4) by making media multi-directional - people formerly known as readers - somewhere, someone knows - more information = better media

5) by giving people choice - see media as a spectrum - trade accuracy for immediacy? - dis-aggregation of media

- they are all ways of strengthening the relationship we have with the people we formerly called readers What do these things have in common?

- admitting that we are human - inviting them into the conversation - taking their input seriously We do that by:

“ Trust is the new black.” - Craig Newmark

A stronger relationship with the people formerly called readers isn't just a nice thing to have... ...it's the key to the survival of our industry.

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New Media vs. Old Media

by Mathew Ingram on Sep 19, 2009

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New Media vs. Old Media — Presentation Transcript