‘Protectionism is not the answer’
Another video from the World Editors Forum in South Africa, this about multiple newspapers from a single newsroom. The editor of Germany’s Die Welt, Andrea Seibel, makes a strong statement at the end:
One of the most important, if not bitter discoveries for journalists over the past decade has been that they do not operate in the ivory tower of of intellectual pursuit but are subject to the laws and mechanisms of the market. They simply have to open up and realize that the reader is their actual employer. Which means saying goodbye to the hallowed notion of journalism of journalism as a cultural good worthy of protection. You may smile at this statement but that is exactly what still bedevils the thinking amongst many in Germany. In a recent essay, the respected philosopher Jürgen Habermas actually stipulated that quality journalism has to be shielded from the brutality of the marketplace. We beg to differ. Protectionism is not the answer.
: ALSO: I’m delighted to see video coverage of WEF here, here, and here.
Tags: journalism, newsinnovation, web
June 6th, 2007 at 11:13 am
Amen. In fact, not only is protectionism not the answer, it has been the PROBLEM that is now making it more difficult for Old Media to keep-up. For years, we have had the protectionism of economics that only allowed one newspaper per metro area, and the protectionism of government broadcast regulations that only permitted up to 7 channels per metro area. One can only imagine how much better equipped outlets would now be against Internet competitors if they had not been shielded from the unfulfilled demands of news consumers. (Steve Boriss, The Future of News)
June 6th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
[...] buzzmachine where you can also find WEF video [...]
June 6th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Ah, the crises of journalism. Seventy years ago Henry Luce warned a conference: “The crisis consists in the cheapening easiness with which anybody, anybody at all, can break into print (or over the air or on the screen).â€
June 6th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
[...] 6/6/07 Posted by Steve Boriss in BuzzMachine, Protectionism. trackback BuzzMachine’s Jeff Jarvis captured a moment of all-to-rare, clear-headed sanity from the World Editors Forum in South Africa. [...]
June 7th, 2007 at 1:13 am
“One of the most important, if not bitter discoveries for journalists over the past decade has been that they do not operate in the ivory tower of intellectual pursuit but are subject to the laws and mechanisms of the market.”
To be paid you must be successful and to be successful you must be popular, and to be popular you must say the things people want to read, just as you must show things people want to see, you must write songs people want to listen to, you must make movies people like to watch and so on…
That is where the great journalism and the great journalist comes into the picture.
To be able to say the truth in the way people are interested in reading it.
It is POSSIBLE, how many times we found out that a subject we expected to be boring, was, on the contrary a most interesting one?
Because it was told and explained in words we understood and liked.
Be simple, be clear, be interesting, be honest.
That will bring you on the top.
June 7th, 2007 at 11:26 am
[...] Jeff Jarvis captured a moment of all-to-rare, clear-headed sanity from the World Editors Forum in South Africa. [...]
June 8th, 2007 at 9:00 am
[...] is your employer. Applies to coms bosses as well as media bosses! Join the conversation: These icons link to [...]