Times publisher compares the newspaper to the Titanic

New York Magazine recently asked the New York Times publisher, Arthur Sulzberger, his advice for young people wanting to get into journalism. Here is his response:

"Um, what I would tell them is the industry is in the midst of a massive transition. But the core of the fundamental job is critical. We have to re-create ourselves, but the heart of what we're going to re-create is still journalism. The way people get information is changing, but the need for information will remain constant."

I think his response is spot on. Instead of going into the "bloggers are ruining traditional media," poor us, territory, Sulzberger acknowledges that it is traditional media that needs to change to please consumers. I also like that he points out that the need for information isn't changing, that the public aren't just simply giving up on reading the news.

He also uses a great analogy for the fate of physical newspaper:

"What was the critical flaw to the Titanic?," he asked NY Magazine. "Even if the Titanic came in safely to New York Harbor, it was still doomed. Twelve years earlier, two brothers invented the airplane."

The Washington Post is in for some competition

The Huffington Post got hold of a memo from Politico's publisher, Robert Allbritton, announcing to Politico staff that he is launching a local DC news site that is hoping to compete with the Washington Post. I wonder how the Post will feel about the new competitor being run by former Washingtonpost.com editor Jim Brady?

The memo says that they will be merging "the current WJLA.com and News8.net websites into a site whose aim is to set a new standard for media coverage of local news, with a staff of more than 50 people."

Read the rest of the memo on the Huffington Post here.

"the age of the amafessional" - Wall Street Journal

Despite using the questionable term "amafessional," this article on bloggers for the Wall Street Journal is surprisingly positive. While acknowledging the threat they pose to almost all professions, the writer says that bloggers, with their talents, are providing trained professionals with some strong competition. The article ends on this note:

"In recent years we've experienced the growth of the professional class as the nature of work and American aspirations have shifted. But now come the amafessionals, who could produce even greater growth."

Side note: The article quotes a recent op-ed in the New York Times saying that the "shuttering of Gourmet [magazine] reminds us that in a click-or-die advertising marketplace, one ruled by a million instant pundits, where an anonymous Twitter comment might be seen to pack more resonance and useful content than an article that reflects a lifetime of experience, experts are not created from the top down but from the bottom up." - Harsh

Censoring Twitter?

In keeping with today's discussion on censorship, check out this article on Mickey Kaus's blog, Kausfiles, for Slate. In the article, Kaus wonders why Twitter searches on celebrities almost always turn up positive "tweets". Is there absolutely no criticism against celebrities on Twitter?, he asks. Infact, insulting "tweets" against celebrities are dissapearing from search results. Kaus argues that, perhaps, Twitter "curates" the comments (deletes negative tweets) to look after the celebrities.

Why?

Well Kaus, citing Nicole LaPorte's article in The Daily Beast, points out that celebrity publicists have connections at Twitter HQ, and suggests that:

"Celebrity Twitterers like Milano, Moore and Kutcher have been very important to Twitter's growth. They take care of Twitter. Twitter takes care of them. At least that would be the equation"

While this could just be Kaus' own conspiracy, I wouldn't be suprised if it turned out to be true...

Mother Jones, Slate, The Atlantic, Wired, Propublic to join forces for investigative reporting into climate change

Mother Jones editor Clara Jeffery has revealed in an interview for Advertising Age that she is negotiating with Slate, Grist, The Atlantic, Wired, Pro Publica and others to collaborate on investigative reporting into climate change.

Jeffery reveals that the outlets are hoping to delve into bigger, ongoing climate change coverage coverage - more than they could individually pull off.

25 of the best undderated bloggers

Mediaite has put together a list of 25 of the best underrated bloggers that readers should know about.

The site says:

"If they aren’t themselves household names in a few years, the odds are good that they will continue to smartly analyze the news, break stories, serve as role models for others, and put their stamps on the flow of information far beyond the Internet."

The article explains why Mediaite has chosen each blog. This is definitely an article Indy Media students should check out.

Authors — once an elite minority — will soon be a majority.

An article on Seed Magazine discusses the finding of a recent study on authorship. The study, which claims to be the first of its kind, compared the number of published authors since 1400 to now.

To be considered published, an author’s text (book, magazine, journal and now more recent social media – blogs, Facebook, and Twitter), must have been read by at least 100 people.

The two researchers, Denis G. Pelli and Charles Bigelow, found the number of published authors per year increased nearly tenfold every century for six centuries, and that by 2000 there were 1 million book authors per year.

But now authorship, with the advent of new media, is growing nearly tenfold each year. The graph predicts that by next year 1 percent of the world’s population will by publishing and that nearly 10 percent will be the following year. If the “twitter-author curve” proves to be accurate, every person will publish by 2013.

The researchers state that even if they were to change the criteria for publishing to texts that were read by 1,000 readers, it would only delay the predicted 100 percent participation by a year under their model.

While many of you might cringe at all this data, the study shows how media participation is becoming an everyday part of society. It is evidence to support, in the authors words, “[that] our society is changing from consumers to creators.”