Is journalism dying?

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i've noticed that i have a new anxiety, just before i am about to post something somewhere that links to a news story or anything dated/dateable, i think to double check to make sure it really is 'now' and not like, four days old

i saw that the guardian has started putting, in addition to the dateline, notices at the tops of stories: 'this article is 2 years old' etc

j., Tuesday, 12 January 2016 22:42 (eight years ago) link

three months pass...

lol The New Day closes before we even bother to take the piss

some men just want to watch the world Bern (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 5 May 2016 06:22 (eight years ago) link

Upbeat, optimistic approach

Daithi Bowsie (darraghmac), Thursday, 5 May 2016 07:05 (eight years ago) link

Don't remember even noticing this on sale. Business model seems to have been, a free paper, but costing money?

a defense for Euro-Blackface (Bananaman Begins), Thursday, 5 May 2016 07:38 (eight years ago) link

amazed that their innovative pitch of 'A brand new UK National Paper for women and men' somehow failed to grab the attention of readers

i do not sense the entity ted (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 5 May 2016 08:23 (eight years ago) link

it didn't have a political stance

or readers

some men just want to watch the world Bern (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 5 May 2016 09:55 (eight years ago) link

rip the new day heaven needed a... whatever you were

i do not sense the entity ted (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 5 May 2016 10:05 (eight years ago) link

one month passes...

these guys did the pied piper table ad, right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vdkz9y8LRDI

thrusted pelvis-first back (ulysses), Tuesday, 21 June 2016 15:58 (eight years ago) link

when she says "that's the fun part" a little part of her dies

illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 21 June 2016 15:58 (eight years ago) link

that tronc recruitment video would make me run away screaming, rather than be put through a funnel and optimized.

a little too mature to be cute (Aimless), Tuesday, 21 June 2016 16:02 (eight years ago) link

one year passes...

http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/google-funds-press-association-robot-reporter-project-which-will-provide-30000-local-media-stories-a-month/

"The Press Assocation has been awarded €706,000 by Google to develop a robot reporting project which will see computers write 30,000 stories a month for local media."

illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Friday, 7 July 2017 09:27 (seven years ago) link

"The only other recent movie I can think of that deals with journalism is Spiderman, which certainly doesn't portray it positively." -- original post

the pinefox, Friday, 7 July 2017 09:29 (seven years ago) link

Journalism is dying but diaryism is on the rise.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, May 29, 2003 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

* spooky music *

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand)

the pinefox, Friday, 7 July 2017 09:29 (seven years ago) link

i answer all phones ever with an exasperated "STUdio"

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, May 29, 2003

the pinefox, Friday, 7 July 2017 09:30 (seven years ago) link

Maybe the problem is that journalists don't have anyone cool like Spiderman to cover. We need more superheroes!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, May 29, 2003

the pinefox, Friday, 7 July 2017 09:30 (seven years ago) link

Are you accusing me of killing journalism with my glib one-liners? I don't think I deserve that but they are symptomatic of the disease, tbh

illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Friday, 7 July 2017 09:41 (seven years ago) link

man google still can't tell me whether local businesses have changed holiday hours, how will they handle this

j., Friday, 7 July 2017 14:16 (seven years ago) link

a robot reporting project which will see computers write 30,000 stories a month for local media

the news has been more and more about reposting tweets and crap it finds on the internet. seems like an area where bots will really excel.

AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 7 July 2017 14:20 (seven years ago) link

Tracer, really I was celebrating the unexpected spirit and quality of ilx c.2003, exemplified by you. :D

the pinefox, Friday, 7 July 2017 14:33 (seven years ago) link

clickbait necessary to survive in today's media failed environment

Dean of the University (Latham Green), Friday, 7 July 2017 15:02 (seven years ago) link

Ha! Thank you pf :)

illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Friday, 7 July 2017 15:25 (seven years ago) link

It seems like Facebook is causing many people who didn't read news before to be forced now to read the shittest news sources ever - and they vote

Dean of the University (Latham Green), Friday, 7 July 2017 19:06 (seven years ago) link

one month passes...

https://fashionista.com/.amp/2017/08/magazine-interview-format-trend

On Thursday, Harper's Bazaar released the cover story for its September issue, featuring an interview with cover star The Weeknd that was conducted entirely via email. It was a move Rihanna also pulled in The Fader for their May/June issue, with the added stipulation that only five questions could be sent to her. And earlier this year, Paris Jackson was the cover star for not one, but two publications (Teen Vogue and Vogue Australia) where the accompanying interview happened over text. Like, on a phone.

So what exactly is going on here? Is this about magazines being too short-staffed and tight-budgeted to send a writer to the mansions or yachts on which their cover stars are dallying? Is it about celebrities attempting to keep more of their private lives private without missing out on press opportunities? Are publicists and managers wanting to keep a tighter control on what their star clients say to the media and how it's construed?

There's evidence supporting all of the above. It hardly takes sleuthing at this point to uncover the fact that print media is bleeding money. And The Weeknd's interview gave clues about the reasoning behind his email-only mandate: He cited annoying questions about his hair, his desire to maintain a sense of mystery and the claim that "the only thing the world demands of me is music."

maura, Tuesday, 8 August 2017 13:58 (seven years ago) link

on the flip side, this would lead to an end of a) the writer describing what the celebrity ordered for lunch at the upscale hotel where they're conducting the interview (RIP truffle fry-gate) and b) male writers describing how hot their female interviewees are (RIP Neil Strauss-on-Jewel).

evol j, Tuesday, 8 August 2017 14:02 (seven years ago) link

Or just make the latter worse.

"I had regularly felt a stirring during my obsessive review of her selfies, and I admit when I was typing out the email questions, I only used one hand."

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 8 August 2017 14:04 (seven years ago) link

At our student newspaper we don't allow email interviews with administrators unless the editor in chief okays it, for obvious reasons, I think. I sympathize with The Weeknd's attitude if he means it. But he and the reporter can discuss the scope of the interview before it happens and come to an understanding (i.e. no questions about truffle fries, hair, etc).

the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 8 August 2017 14:08 (seven years ago) link

you interview in person partly to catch their lies. but usually, who cares if celebrities lie?

j., Tuesday, 8 August 2017 15:06 (seven years ago) link

i think you answered your own question, maura - seems like this is the natural endpoint of publicists' powers to demand concessions increasing as print media's influence wanes

i'd imagine too that celebs are now so used to communicating with their audiences directly through social media that a significant proportion of them view interviews as anachronistic - in that case why not stick to communicating with journalists using text or email if that's what you're comfortable doing, and your publicist can swing it?

for sale: clown shoes, never worn (bizarro gazzara), Tuesday, 8 August 2017 15:20 (seven years ago) link

oh that was cut and pasted from the link, sorry. but yeah, i think that's a big part of it

maura, Tuesday, 8 August 2017 15:30 (seven years ago) link

"access" is a trap

maura, Tuesday, 8 August 2017 15:30 (seven years ago) link

risk vs reward of an interview with harper's bazaar vs self managed instagram account not looking so hot these days

Chocolate-covered gummy bears? Not ruling those lil' guys out. (ulysses), Tuesday, 8 August 2017 15:32 (seven years ago) link

Would rather read an essay about The Weeknd (especially if it was called "Why The Weeknd Sucks") than an interview with his boring ass anyway. I mean, that's the other thing - the three people cited in the above blog entry (Ironclad Journalism Rule: Three Is A Trend) have always seemed like paralyzingly boring human beings whose opinions should mean basically nothing to anyone with two brain cells to rub together.

grawlix (unperson), Tuesday, 8 August 2017 15:44 (seven years ago) link

I thought we'd already decided all the interviews should be of Noel Gallagher.

evol j, Tuesday, 8 August 2017 16:30 (seven years ago) link

imagine writing this story. how you'd feel about yourself.

http://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/839264/bbc-weather-bbc-breakfast-weather-report-Carol-Kirkwood-rain-shocks

illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 10 August 2017 10:27 (seven years ago) link

a recap of a weather report followed by some cut-and-pasted twitter comments

what the actual fuck

for sale: clown shoes, never worn (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 10 August 2017 10:33 (seven years ago) link

I look forward to spending my twilight years clicking through contentless links in a hypnagogic state

ogmor, Thursday, 10 August 2017 10:39 (seven years ago) link

by that measure i'm already in my twilight years tbh

for sale: clown shoes, never worn (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 10 August 2017 11:30 (seven years ago) link

I can't stand Carol Kirkwood, I hate how she says Englind, Scotlind. There's a news story for you.

weird echo of the falsies (Tom D.), Thursday, 10 August 2017 11:59 (seven years ago) link

This was on the sidebar and same sorta things except there is no cut and paste of Rachel doing letters or numbers.

http://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/833313/Rachel-Riley-Countdown-wardrobe-malfunction-dress-fruit-pastille-lolly-Twitter-fans-Channe

xyzzzz__, Thursday, 10 August 2017 19:43 (seven years ago) link

they literally publish one of those Carol Kirkwood stories every few days, see also "Carol Kirkwood wraps sensational curves in gorgeous green jacket for forecast" from 8th August, "Carol Kirkwood showcases ample bust in figure-hugging purple frock" from 7th August, "Carol Kirkwood thrills as she teases cleavage in low-cut navy frock" from 24th July, "Carol Kirkwood distracts viewers as she squeezes into plunging red dress" from 21st July, "Carol Kirkwood flashes PLENTY of cleavage in plunging jumpsuit as she takes to the skies" from 17th July, etc

soref, Thursday, 10 August 2017 23:36 (seven years ago) link

it seems like the task of writing them is divided between several journalists rather than having one dedicated Carol-Kirkwood-perving correspondent, probably better for morale: imagine writing this story. how you'd feel about yourself.

soref, Thursday, 10 August 2017 23:39 (seven years ago) link

one month passes...

https://digiday.com/media/facebooks-ad-breaks-are-not-bringing-in-a-lot-of-money-for-publishers/

Five publishers participating in Facebook’s mid-roll ads test, which began in March, said the product isn’t generating much money. One publisher said its Facebook-monetized videos had an average CPM of 15 cents. A second publisher, which calculated ad rates based on video views that lasted long enough to reach the ad break, said the average CPM for its mid-rolls is 75 cents. (Facebook’s mid-roll ads don’t show up inside videos in the first 20 seconds, which means many three-second video views aren’t “monetized views.”)

A third publisher made roughly $500 from more than 20 million total video views on that page in September.* (This publisher had not calculated its CPM, as its total video view count includes videos that were not monetized by Facebook mid-rolls.) A fourth publisher confirmed revenue was low without giving specifics. (A fifth publisher, when asked about its Facebook mid-roll CPMs, responded by texting lyrics to Flo Rida’s “Low.”)

am i the only person who's loath to click on any links anymore because the prospect of having my music drowned out by some annoying ad is too high

maura, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:37 (seven years ago) link

the secondmost obvious question is "what does facebook have to do with journalism?"

A is for (Aimless), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 17:01 (seven years ago) link

everything tbh

illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 17:14 (seven years ago) link

then we have a definitive answer to the question in the thread's title: no, it isn't dying. it would have to be alive to be dying.

A is for (Aimless), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 17:15 (seven years ago) link

aimless are you asking that question sincerely or being snide? because facebook and google (and to a lesser extent twitter and other platforms) have completely transformed the way news is disseminated and by extension the priorities of publishers

maura, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 17:20 (seven years ago) link

Like 3/4 of the world's population, I am not on fb and therefore never look at fb. Personally, I have no interest in ever changing this state of affairs. Consequently, fb has not transformed how news reaches me, unless it is solely responsible for the slow strangulation of the channels I still rely upon.

ftr, unlike fb, the Reagan administration's deregulation of broadcast media did completely transform the way news was disseminated to me; I stopped watching television news broadcasts. fb is slightly different, in that I never started looking at it to begin with.

A is for (Aimless), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 17:30 (seven years ago) link

Is journalism dying (for ILX poster Aimless, specifically)

Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 17:37 (seven years ago) link

is twitter dying?

A is for (Aimless), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 17:44 (seven years ago) link


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