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October 21, 2006
What should journalism try next?
Here's an interesting bit of on-the-fly analysis about the the CNN website. Like the writer of this post on the Daily KOS, I also have a soft spot for CNN that has more to do with its revolutionary past than its fluffy, ordinary present.
News on cable TV is about fluff and (mindless) contention. There's no changing it. Pointing out how bad it is is merely an exercise in frustration (although I keep doing it). The badness and dumbness, however, provide an endless supply of material for The Daily Show.
Newspapers have, for the most part, followed USA Today down a similar rat hole. And every year the circulation figures get worse and worse. And every year American journalism tries the same ol' same ol' to win new readers and keep old ones--fluff and (mindless) contention.
Here's a radical idea, a stupid idea, and idea so far out in the ozone as to be thoroughly without merit: Try taking citizens seriously; try treating them as citizens rather than consumers.
It's the one thing American journalism has yet to try in recent history. Shortening stories didn't work. More graphics didn't work. Putting fluff above the flag didn't work. Targeting free publications to young people didn't work. Shrinking the news hole didn't work. Cutting editorial staff didn't work. Cutting foreign news didn't work. Running wire fluff didn't work. Ignoring the poor and working class in favor of the middle class didn't work. Partnering with the advertising department didn't work. Speciality publications aimed at the rich didn't work. Re-design after re-design after re-design didn't work.
What has worked in the few markets that have tried it: Serious local reporting. (I suspect that interactivity using the web may also work, but that's a long way off.)
Let's get serious. It's the one thing American journalism hasn't tried in a very long time.
Next week, I'll discuss details.
Posted by acline at October 21, 2006 1:16 PM | | Spotlight