Newspapers and The News Reflections of A Democratic Society 03 19 2015 What is News News Values o Timeliness o Proximity o Prominence o Consequence o Rarity o Human Interest Early Newspapers o In Ancient Rome officials distributed Acta Diurna tipao in the 600s o Government officials in China produced news sheets called o 1618 Curanto Amsterdam First English language newspaper Newspapers distributed through European coffee houses o Church Reformers John Calvin Martin Luther were among earliest publishers Colonial Publishing 1690 Publick Occurrences o First paper published in American colonies o Went out of business 1721 New England Courant o Published by James Franklin o First paper published without By Authority notice o James sent to prison His little brother Ben Franklin takes over Early American Newspapers Were for elites Published by political Parties Focused on opinion Expensive small circulations Everything changed with the penny press Penny Press Revolution Benjamin Day s The New York Sun o It shines for all Sold on the street for 1 or 2 cents Supported primarily by advertising Newspapers started to focus on news A Modern Democratic Society More newspapers Journalistic objectivity developed as a way to appeal to larger audiences More people working for wages U S was changing Rural Urban Newspapers promoted a democratic market based society People started to read the news as a habit Joseph Pulitzer New York World o Created the modern front page o Created modern headlines o Targeted immigrants and women Before Pulitzer After Pulitzer Nellie Bly and stunt journalism William Randolph New York Journal o Rise of yellow journalism o Popularized comics o Sensational Stories Promoted war Tabloids Smaller format newspaper Often sensationalistic Newspapers Today Few cities have competing daily newspapers Newspapers revenues falling o Worst problems at metropolitan papers Most newspapers owned by large chains o Largest chain is Gannet Are Newspapers Dying National newspapers profitable holding onto circulation Most of the job losses have been at major urban papers Newspapers in the 21st Century Trying to get paid for online content Newspapers offering mobile sites podcasts social media feeds Newspapers paying more attention to hyperlocal news National Example USA Today Brought color and design to forefront Daily Circulation 2 9 million News McNuggets 03 19 2015 Informing The News Information Today Pack Journalism New Formats New reportorial styles Different gatekeepers agenda setter Many Sources Competition Competition business pressures Changes in technology business pressures o A race to get eyeballs Attention Watchdog Work According to Patterson what happened when the race for attention heated up Misinformation Opinion Infotainment soft news Questions WE ask Who to trust Who gives news to newsmakers Look again at Misinformation Huge problem Rise in fact checking operations Why is Misinformation Reported Overreliance on sources o Leads to he said she said reporting Solution Patterson o Journalists are our chief sense makers o Their job is to make the important interesting Start with what is important Not with what is interesting The Business of Media Jim Morrison The Doors 03 19 2015 Whoever controls the media controls the mind U S Media System Private Ownership o Not government ownership Revenue based largely on advertising o But not entirely Who owns the media 1983 90 of U S media was owned by 50 companies 2012 90 of U S media is controlled by 6 media giants 5 Companies Own Most U S Media Oligopoly o State of limited competition o Market shared by a small number of producers sellers Integration Integrates content across multiple media platforms including traditional content branding advertising etc Two types of integration Vertical Integration Production Distribution Exhibition Sale o Ex NBC Comcast Creates synergy o Use strengths to promote the content o Withstand downturns in the market Ex Amazon Distributor of goods Maker of goods lot of different products o Characteristics High number of goods More niche goods than hits Low cost of reaching markets Ease of finding niche products Tailors to personal tastes Long Tail Vs Short Head Long Tail A limited number of people are interested in buying a Short Head A large number of people buy a limited number of products o Traditional MSM Consequences of the Growth of Long Tail Media Democratization of the means of production And of the means of distribution Horizontal Integration Owning many different types of media products o E G owning broadcast and cable television film radio and internet websites Ex News Corp Limits on Media Conglomeration 1975 The FCC passed the newspaper and broadcast cross ownership rule o Prohibits the ownership of a daily newspaper AND a full power broadcast station that serves the same community o 1996 Telecommunications act loosened these rules but they still technically apply The Past Future of News 03 19 2015 The Georgetown Set Ben Bradlee Washington Post Editor Current Problems Misinformation Partisan one sided outlets Heavy focus on negative news gaffes and controversy Sensationalism Overreliance on official sources Infotainment Patterson s Solution Context o Add the why to connect the dots Context through more knowledge o Content Knowledge o Process Knowledge Content Knowledge Knowledge of a subject o Allows for fuller explanations o More context How reporting methods affect content and audiences Process Knowledge o Attribution bias o Framing bias The Future and Present User Experience UX o Understanding a person s behaviors attitudes and emotions about using a particular product system or services UX User experience Honeycomb o Peter Morville Methods Of UX Observation Website analytics Surveys Parallel Design Card Sorting Interviews Resources on UX NN g Nielsen Norman Group Usability gov News Audiences Media Fragmentation 03 19 2015 As the number of media choices increases the number of consumers is distributed across a larger number of media outlets Where audiences go for news 1 TV 2 Laptop or Computer 3 Radio 4 Paper Newspapers or magazines News Consumption Trends Network Evening News Audience 1 2008 2 2013 3 2011 4 2009 5 2010 Cable TV Viewership 1 Fox News Channel 2 CNN 3 MSNBC 1 Time 2 The Economist News Magazines Newsstand Sales 3 The Atlantic 4 The New Yorker 5 The Week Newsweek Founded in 1933 Death spiral in the 2000s Partnership with the daily beast 12 31 12 Print is dead 03 07 14 Print is