Lessons from the newsroom

The need for news is and always has been a fundamental human need.  What we get and how we get it certainly has changed fundamentally thanks in part to Web 2.0 and social media.  And, it’s changing the newsroom forever.  If it hasn’t already, it will change our Corporate Communications function and our profession forever too.

So, my interest peaked when I heard Tom Rosenstiel, Director Pew Research Centres Project for Excellence in Journalism, interviewed the other day on CBCs The Current.  Here’s the change he described:

From	To
Journalists and their editors decided what was important for us to know and when [basically from 6am to 10 pm]	We decide what we want to read, listen to and watch and when [any time]
Editors decide what’s of interest to us based on instinct [surveys are expensive]	We can find out what’s of interest to our ‘readers’ immediately
Traditional media are trusted	Traditional media are  distrusted and they are most distrusted by those of us who are the biggest consumers of news
Large news rooms and good budgets with the ability to follow many stories	Shrinking news rooms and limited budgets means following only a few stories
Social consensus – we all knew basically the same things at the same time	No social consensus – we may or may not know the same things at the same time.  We may be more informed [ie: go deeper on a story] or completely uninformed [doesn’t interest us so we go elsewhere]
Story telling was everything	Story telling is only part of the story.  News media need to provide:   Smart aggregation Forums Access to databases and other tools
Product	Service

What do you think?  Are there lessons here for us: 

• As professional communicators?
• In terms of our function?  What we do?  How we do it?  When we do it?  What skills and experience we need and how we’ll get them?
• In terms of our professional associations?

Tags: Culture change, Relationship, The profession