journalism « Kenny Smith | A remarkable thing happens …

journalism

There was no gold. I looked.

The newspaper industry, they gave it away online for a decade or more, suddenly decided to charge for it online and now, I’m sure, are stupefied by this news:

Now that roughly a third of the nation’s newspapers are charging for access to their web and mobile content, the early evidence suggests that digital audiences aren’t nearly as enthusiastic about paying for news as publishers are about charging for it.

Although digital-only subscribers make up 37.6% of the total circulation of the Wall Street Journal and 34.4% of the total readership of the New York Times, the number of digital-only subscribers at Gannett, the largest publisher of general-interest newspapers in the land, is 2.2% of its average aggregate weekday circulation of 3 million subscribers.

Notwithstanding the relative productivity of their paywalls, the paid penetration at the Journal and the Times pales in comparison to the success that Netflix, Spotify, Major League Baseball and other ventures have had in selling entertainment-oriented digital content.

Some of those entertainment and news comparisons stretch the bonds of credulity, but they do say one thing: People will pay for a service online, just not the news.

It is simple economic theory, really. You can easily charge for a scarcity. There is a great volume of news, analysis and information around us. Some of it isn’t worth the download to be sure, but a great deal of it is readily available.

You might say it isn’t the news they need. You might be right, to an extent. You might also be called an elitist gatekeeper for saying that.

At the end of the day your news seeker is a resourceful individual. He or she has plenty of options to find what they want, or at the very least, enough to make them feel they’ve gotten what they need.

So the search for a compelling and profitable news model will continue. Even as I remind you that news has always been a (civically minded) loss leader.

Speaking of losses … now you can find out how much the Affordable Care Act is going to cost you. Finally.

Also, my insurance is increasing, so that’s nice.

Our state doesn’t get the opportunity to brag about education frequently enough, but here’s one where we are on the top of the list: Alabama high school students lead nation in increase in passing advanced placement tests.

Reviewed the newspaper this afternoon. They are designing a sharp looking product — and they were only in the newsroom until 2:30 this morning, so that is an improvement. Today we talked about story selection and word use.

Pretty soon I’ll run out of things to find wrong and will simply be down to the very subjective things.

Here is the rainbow I saw on the way home this evening:

One of the meteorologists said there was a storm in some little town, a wide spot on the road really, to my east. I was on the interstate about 20 miles away. I glanced up and saw the clouds. I looked back to the road. I glanced up again and saw the rainbow.

Here’s a post on the multimedia blog.

Here’s something from Tumblr.

There’s more on Twitter.

football / I do not know what is happening. / iPhone / journalism / links / photo / Samford / swimming / things to read / Tuesday — Comments Off
24
Sep 13

Transferring 14,233 files – 6 percent complete

Spent the day transferring data on computers. You know how that goes, right? Here are a bunch of files on this machine. But this machine is going to be replaced by that machine. So you have to move all of these directories and files from here to there.

Fortunately I have a great server I can connect to and swap out files. Unfortunately I have a lot of big files. A lot. And big ones. So this took Much of the day and night.

And then the process of making sure you don’t need any of those other files. And then double checking that, because once you return this computer it is over, pal.

And then loading new software on the new machine. Only you don’t have all of the software, so you have to track people down tomorrow. No matter, though.

Tonight the students are working on the newspaper. Two weeks ago, on their first issue, they were in the newsroom until 5 a.m. Last week it was 3 a.m. Here’s to hoping that’s a trend.

But they working hard and laughing and sound like they are enjoying their evening. They do good work and ask a few questions and I’m impressed by the quality of work they are producing in just two weeks. They have a great deal of potential.

Went for a swim tonight. I did 1.25 miles. That’s 45 laps, or 90 lengths, if you are counting. It has to be the greatest distance I’ve ever traveled in water that didn’t include a boat or inner tube.

I did 250 yards with a breaststroke. It was slow. It was probably sloppy. And I was exhausted from just that. This summer I could do about four strokes before I had to stop because of my shoulder, so 250 sloppy yards is a tremendous improvement. Someone should have been there to give me a high five.

Well, maybe a low five.

I do not know what is happening.

Also, people need to learn how to swim in lanes. I’d complain, but the guy might read this and just keep distractedly swim right on to my side.

The Samford football team wrapping up practice:

Pat Sullivan just rejoined the team. The head coach had spinal fusion surgery and missed the first three games of the season, but returned on Saturday to coach from a booth above the field.

I’ve interviewed Sullivan. We’ve shook hands. He’s 63 and has paws made of stone and fingers made of iron. Some of his players have been in my classes. I’ve dismissed classes early and watched his players stay in the room. Because, I was told, “Coach said the class runs until 5:30, I don’t want to see you down here until 5:30. Stay in the class.” He’s a good man. A solid, certain, Southern gentleman. The kind of man you’d want to grow up to be like.

I don’t know if he is back at practice yet, out in the gloom and rain and under the low clouds — you can see them clinging to the top of the mountain — but I know that’s where he wants to be.

Things to read: Full of stories I’ve enjoyed today, which you might appreciate as well.

Since we were talking about football, did you hear the one about the team who’s bus caught fire last weekend? It was a small college in Alabama. Concordia-Selma was on their way to a game at the time:

Concordia, a small United States Collegiate Athletic Association school located in a city more famous for its role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s than anything, saw all of its football equipment, $90,000 worth, including their only set of jerseys, get destroyed in a freak bus fire on its way to play Miles College this past Saturday.

In the days since the incident, the team has drawn closer and others have been drawn to it, donating everything from shoulder pads to girdles so the Hornets can continue their season Thursday at 6 p.m. in Demopolis against West Alabama.

[…]

“It’s made us value each other, made us value life more,” (freshman Treyvond) Moore said. “We look at those pictures and we’re like, ‘Man, that could’ve been us. But it wasn’t. It’s just brought us together as a team. I feel like can’t nothing divide us.”

The local story, with another incredible picture of the bus that carried 62 people:

We have about 10 helmets left,” (head football coach Don) Lee said. “We lost jerseys, camera equipment, shoulder pads, everything. Right now, we’re trying to figure out what we need and where to get it from.”

Lee said he had received a call from Dallas County High School, which offered some shoulder pads to the program, but that won’t be enough to meet the demands of a college program scheduled to play its next game Thursday. Concordia College-Ann Arbor in Michigan has also called and offered aid.

“We are still going to play Thursday,” Lee said of the Hornets’ scheduled game in Livingston against the University of West Alabama. “UWA has been great. Their coach called me Saturday afternoon, while we were still on the side of the road, asking if there was anything they could do.”

Deadspin examines Sports Illustrated’s Oklahoma State story and their ultimately thoughtful critique can be shared in one concise sentence:

At the exact point where the hard work started, SI stopped.

Time: Little Boy To Kenya Gunman: ‘You’re A Bad Man’

And from the campus blog:

Want to be a freelancer?

“If a bot can write the story better than you, let it

And now back to that computer. And the newspaper. Here’s to hoping it won’t be a 3 a.m. kind of night.

The active Monday post

Yesterday, in that time between afternoon and evening, when the crickets are warming up and the sun is cooling down, we went out for a run. We’ve been running most recently through the neighborhood. We have a great sidewalk path that meanders through the residential areas and the artery that connects different parts of the neighborhood. At times, on foot, they feel far enough apart that you could be running in the woods. But that’s just if you run slow, like me.

There is a roundabout down by the creek bed that has become a good turnaround point for the standard three-mile jog. We ran out together at the same pace and I figured I would run beyond the roundabout, and my lovely running wife would make the turn and then I’d have to try and catch her on the way back in.

Only she ran on beyond the roundabout too, up the hill to the stop sign.

So I ran on beyond the stop sign, turning right and going up the road beyond an elementary school and on. This is one of the routes we ride on our bikes and, indeed, a guy passed me as I shuffled along. I got 4 km, or 2.5 miles and decided to turn around. And then I had to run up the hill to get back to the road that leads down to the roundabout and into the neighborhood.

I ran five miles in the time between afternoon and evening.

I do not know what is happening.

More physical therapy on my shoulder this morning. We’ve added stretchy bands to the routine of motions, movements, pinching and flexing and whatnot.

You meet some interesting people at the therapy place. There’s an older man there working his way back from some sort of accident that left his doctor telling him he’d never do this or that again. The guy left his doctor’s office — I believe his quote was “You don’t know God” — and went to work and proved the doctor wrong. There’s a young guy there who’s trying to get healthy so he can rejoin his high school football team. The therapist is leaning toward shutting him down, and that’s a terrible thing for the kid to hear. There’s a very old gentleman who asked me if I was from Savannah since I had on one of those shirts this morning. He was stationed there with the 2nd Bombardment Wing once upon a time. There’s a lady who works at a nearby deli, and when she visits the staff knows where they are going for lunch that day.

One day you quit going to physical therapy, because you’re better and that’s what you do, but you miss out on learning a little about a lot of people.

In class today we talked about story assignments that the students are working on. We talked about photojournalism. Usually that’s a pretty good lecture because there are plenty of great pictures. And so it was today. After that I scribbled on students’ hard work and they thanked me for it. Life is good.

After that I hit the pool. I swam a mile tonight in my little crawling, breaststroke-esque style. I did 75 yards freestyle, which is a significant improvement for me. More than four strokes before I had to stop! I felt like climbing out and celebrating on the deck.

I ran five miles yesterday and swam one today. I do not know what is happening.

Here is the best video you’ve ever seen about science, a capella, string theory and puppet Einstein.

Things to read: The interesting material I’ve found today that I wanted to share with you.

Two stories that probably say a lot more than anyone realizes: Why Alabama’s rural counties are at risk as Obamacare approaches and Alabama’s rural residents are poorer, older, and less educated – and have far less access to health care

Twitter’s TV Pitch Comes of Age:

“Tweets drive discovery, ratings, and engagement for networks and advertisers, and that means more tweets. It’s a virtuous cycle,” Matt Derella, Twitter’s vp of sales, told a room full of ad industry folks. “We want to be the preeminent compliment to the TV experience. The social soundtrack is about TV multiplied by Twitter.”

The 3 Future Waves In Design, And How To Ride Them:

Twenty years ago, computing was just coming into its own as a medium to which designers could usefully contribute. Since then, it has become the source of just about every major opportunity for product innovation. Audio devices are essentially small computers. Mobile phones are small computers. Everything from medical devices to sports equipment is being augmented by computing. Today, as the once difficult feats of functionality and usability become table stakes, our focus is shifting toward driving greater systems-wide thinking and more beautiful, humanistic experiences. Computing-driven products are no longer islands. They exist as parts of greater systems and brand experiences. The product design industry has collectively responded to this challenge over the last few years; but as we do, new waves are coming that will drive product design going forward.

About the Dexter finale …

And, finally, three things on the campus blog today:

Witness to massacre

Media names the wrong guy in shooting; he’s upset

Interactive Obamacare map

That should be plenty for today. More tomorrow. There’s always more tomorrow.

Friday / journalism / links / things to read / video — Comments Off
20
Sep 13

These are things to read

The Lebanon Daily News received, and quoted, a complaint from a reader. The complaint touched on all of the bad news in the paper, as opposed to the good news of yore.

The newspaper’s reply is a thing of near beauty.

This is not the world as Aurentz remembers; we are not the company that Aurentz remembers. The Lebanon Daily News is not a newspaper company; it is an information-gathering and advertising vehicle that is multimedia in nature.

Once, the newspaper was our end product; our only product. Today, it is a product, one of many, and it carries both opportunities and limitations because of its static nature.

It addresses, in the specific, the complaints from the correspondent and takes the opportunity to brag on themselves, but the Lebanon Daily News also makes a good point:

At no time in our decades of existence has the Lebanon Daily News had such powerful tools and freedom of space to be what we have always been: The best source of news about the Lebanon Valley that exists anywhere.

Taken as a single unit, no one product can necessarily be said to do the full job of providing the Valley with all available information. But when all the products and platforms are seen and used, even a 48-page paper – even a 100-page paper – cannot contain and could not do what we now do as a matter of routine.

The easy thing to do is to take the generational judgment, “This reader is old. The newspaper … err ‘information-gathering and advertising vehicle that is multimedia in nature’ has passed her by and is moving on to other things, forsaking the elderly audience and the non-connected crowd.”

First, you’d like that description to be punched up. Imagine a newspaper being described that way. “An information gathering and advertising vehicle that disseminates news in a static format via low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp, typically on a daily or weekly basis.”

Second, we have to find the right ways to reach out to those audiences that are being necessarily and unfortunately marginalized.

We’re doing the same job we’ve always been doing; we’re doing it better than we’ve ever been able to do it before. But it takes more than looking at a 14-page print product to see the truth of that.

There is a third and fourth and fifth, but the second one is where you have to start.

The new number from Pew says that 91 percent of adult Americans own a cell phone. Sixty percent of us are using them to access the Internet. The number that might be overlooked in that survey is the video calling and chatting. That has tripled in the last two years, and is now up to 21 percent.

Most telling lead of the day is from the Wall Street Journal:

American incomes have tumbled over the last decade. But for many people in Washington, D.C., it’s been something of a party.

The income of the typical D.C. household rose 23.3% between 2000 and 2012 to an inflation-adjusted $66,583, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, its most comprehensive snapshot of America’s demographic, social and economic trends. During this period, median household incomes for the nation as a whole dropped 6.6% — from $55,030 to $51,371.

In Alabama the median household income has decreased more than six percent since 2000. Deep poverty, incomes 50% below the poverty line, sits at 8.5 percent, which is a 2.4 percent increase. Across the country 45 states saw an increase in that metric.

Here, meanwhile, is the best editorial I read today.

Closer to home, 50 of the state’s 67 counties are now eligible for natural disaster considerations. We’ve had so much rain — after three years plus of considerable drought — that a lot of farmers have had their crops damaged or ruined. Speaking of drought, look out west.

And now, Jon Stewart on the state of CNN.

Breaking news is hard. Live television is hard. Breaking news on live television is very hard. CNN is still bad.

Did you know about the time that we almost nuked North Carolina? Well, did you know all of the details?

A B-52 bomber broke up in mid-air over Goldsboro, N.C. and dropped two Mark 39 hydrogen bombs. The bombs’ trigger mechanisms started to engage but were stopped by one of the four low-voltage switches. The other three failed.

The bombs carried 4 megatons, or 4 million tons of explosives. They would have been 260 times more powerful than the bombing of Hiroshima. The near-catastrophic incident happened three days before President John F. Kennedy made his inauguration speech.

It isn’t a new story. Some of the details may be freshly fleshed out, but several versions of it — owing to a new book — are making the rounds again.

Some of the uranium was never recovered. Sleep tight!

Finally, I know how this story came about. It started at some other website’s content because someone insisted that the reporters each “file” a certain number of “stories” each day. And one of the accepted ways of doing that is finding something with a local hook and getting your byline over a rewrite.

And that’s regrettable, because you have legitimate news outlets writing things like this: Is it over? RadarOnline says Katherine Webb, AJ McCarron have split; Katherine says website is harassing her. The comments tell the tale.

Really AL.COM……this is the best story you can run. Leave them alone – it’s their business. Sad how you all hound people over nothing…. This would be the appropriate time to use Hillary Clinton’s famous response…… “What difference does it make!”

I don’t know if their relationship is over. However, seeing this “story” prominently featured on the landing page for al.com means journalism certainly is.

Why did you feature this? Did the Kardashians take the day off?

If Marshall Mcluhan were around today he’d say the medium is the message and the commenters are the validation.

journalism / Samford / video / Wednesday — Comments Off
18
Sep 13

Two videos worth your time

I’ve been saying for some time now that I want an aerial drone. You can chip in for a nice one for me and I’ll think of you every time I fly it and edit amazing (to me) videos.

If that’s too expensive, I’d understand. You can always train an eagle and strap a camera on its back. I’d take that:

I never get tired of these crowd-funding stories. This one is about a woman in Texas who is fighting stage four lymphoma. Her family asked for help getting a good place to tailgate before a Texas A&M game. Someone picked up that idea and ran with it. And then Aggies from all over the world, people who didn’t know each other, did something amazing. The video is a bit long, but it is worth it:

They put together more than $13,000, food, a shopping spree, sideline passes and more. They were just looking for a tailgating spot.

Never underestimate the genuine decency and affection people can have for strangers. And gig ‘it, Shannon.

Three things from the multimedia blog that I forgot to link to here yesterday:

Where your audience is growing

Squeegee superheroes

Covering mass shootings, traumas

Last night the student-journalists at The Samford Crimson wrapped things up at about 3 a.m., a two hour improvement from last week.

At their critique meeting this evening I bragged on them — they’re doing a really good job at such an early point in their newspaper — and told them we were already down to picking on a lot of little things. Soon we’ll be on to the tough love, and challenging each other to go from good to great.

You can see the online version here.