Professionalism of newspapers in India questioned

I recently spent a couple of weeks teaching a Marquette University Diederich College of Communication-sponsored journalism workshop in Ahmadabad, India, so I was struck by this story from Bloomberg View concerning journalism at the two top -- and growing -- print newspapers in India. Together they sell more than five million newspapers a day.

Basically, the story attacks the journalism of the two, the Times of India and the Hindu, finding it lacking in much of the basic integrity as well as professionalism seen in journalism around the world. I talked with executives from the Times of India, and both in informal and formal speeches they echoed some of the concerns about how journalism is practiced in their country.

Further, Father Vincent Braganza, head of St. Xavier's College, which promoted the workshop we taught, was quite open in his disappointment concerning journalism in India, which he said was shallow, lacking in ethics and rife with errors -- all elements of the Bloomberg story.

My view after reading the Indian papers for two weeks, is that the criticism is quite true. The Times of India would be considered sensationalist by American standards. Word choice is atrocious, and errors are common. Frankly, the Hindu is dull.

Father Braganza's solution is the teaching of journalism, which is rare in that country. Only a handful of journalism programs exist, he said, with most journalists trained in English departments. Father Braganza says that means they lack grounding in ethics and philosophy. That would explain the shortcomings seen in the Bloomberg piece. Despite growing sales, that lack of professionalism bodes ill for India's future.

Social media more addictive than tobacco or alcohol

I'm sure it's not going to come as a surprise to anyone, but a new study showed that social media -- especially Facebook and Twitter -- are more addictive than tobacco or alcohol. I do believe that it had good ramifications for the news business since it is getting more closely integrated into social media.

Social media continues to stir us up

Boy, are we conflicted about social media. A new study reported on Online Media today says we "hate" it when we are targeted on social media, but we "like" it when companies offer social media sites.

A good bit of this comes from various privacy issues Facebook has had over the years. People clearly don't trust the site, but they use it.

Advertising teasing their Super Bowl TV commercials

If you believe as I do that content is king, there's an intriguing new trend among advertisers to tease their Super Bowl TV commercials online in advance of the big game.

A New York Times story on the commercials focuses on moves by Volkswagen to tease its commercial on YouTube. It quotes Mike Sheldon, chief executive at Deutsch L.A., the agency it says created VW commercials last year and this year as well as this year's YouTube teaser, a takeoff on "Star Wars" called the "Bark Side" as saying the tease produces a "halo effect." Viewers "like to be let in on the joke, let in on the story early," Sheldon says.

It's also a wonderful example of how interconnected we are all becoming. I read a print story, am posting it on the Internet about a company's using the Internet to promote television commercials.

Tablets continue cutting into print sales

I've had this sneaking feeling ever since seeing the first tablet that it was the future of news media delivery. Nothing has dissuaded me from that belief.

Latest evidence is research reported on paidContent.org that showed professionals owning tablets are using much less printed product. In fact, 72 percent are buying fewer newspapers, 70 percent are buying fewer books, and 49 percent fewer DVDs.

And, by the way, Robert Andrews of paidContent.org gets special props for using "fewer than" rather than the incorrect "less than" you generally see.

A related story in the New York Times showed that ownership of tablets and e-readers almost doubled over the holidays. 'Tis true even in the Byers/McBride/Caspari household, which now boasts an iPad being used mostly as an e-reader. A Kindle Fire is on the horizon.

Newspaper industry should look at cable TV's past

So what is the future for newspapers? An interesting essay by Nathan Myhrvold on Bloomberg View says newspapers should look at how cable television built a market even with free competition.

The answer: Quality and quantity of content.

He asks: "Could newspaper journalism likewise entice readers to pay for online news? People like quality journalism, so I believe that, ultimately, they can be persuaded to pay for it. But as with cable, the price will have to start low; it can then inch upward as the public gradually accepts the new business model."

Of course, the newspaper industry is headed the other way by cutting staff, which means less quality and quantity.

Post examines the way we consume news

The Washington Post used the South Carolina primary election as a lens to look at the way media consumers are moving into silos in types of news coverage -- moving away from mass media into much more limited media consumption. Ultimately, it's a vision of a sad world where facts are less important than ideology. Still, it's the world we living in.

The truth and the media -- Controversy

When New York Times public editor Arthur S. Brisbane asked the question of whether media (he said newspapers, but it applies to all media) have an obligation to point out when a source utters something that isn't true, I doubt he thought it would controversial. I believe he was reacting to the flap over Politifact.

But he touched journalism's hot button. Politifact is controversial because it draws conclusions. If you agree with them, it's great. If you don't, it's journalists run amok.

The Atlantic has a nice roundup of the flap over Brisbane's column.

Shoppers prefer websites to apps

I'm back from a workshop overseas, and the media world continues to swirl. Buyouts in Chicago, downsizing in other dailies, and some interesting findings about tablet use.

I've spent the last year or so asking people who I see with tablets what they use them for. Primarily the answer has been email, Facebook, and e-books. Now comes some interesting research reported by Direct Marketing News on shopping trends on tablets and smart phones. No surprise to me, but consumers prefer using websites to apps. Sort of deflates a lot of the overblown rhetoric about how they love apps. I, too, love apps but for specific things -- and that's not purchasing things.

News tops local searches, survey finds

And if we need more evidence that news sells, a new survey by Google shows that news sites top local searches. News sells.

The Atlantic makes its mark online

An interesting take on the Atlantic demonstrates how concentrating on content can save media operations. Mashable Business demonstrates how going digital can lead to profits for a magazine operation.

It turned things around by hiring good people, and making their work available to all on the Internet.

A big part of the success goes to the Atlantic Wire, on which staffers " synthesize and analyze the takes from the U.S.’s leading commentators in rapid, pithy blog posts," with links to the original. It's a lot like the Utne Reader in its early days when I read it so that I would know what other magazines to read (and what to skip). The Atlantic Wire is mostly opinion, but that's OK. Opinion is what drives the Net. After all, opinion is just more content.

'Tis the season for more stupidity

I know, I know. 'Tis the season to be jolly and merry, but the continuing stupidity of media managers staggers me. Newspaper jobs took a steep decline last year with the bulk of them in newsrooms. The Newsosaur blog has come nice thoughts on what's been happening (and be sure to read the comments for more).

To those struggling managers who sigh and say, "Well, things are bad so we had to cut somewhere," I reply: It's all about content and how stupid are you to cut content when we know there is a direct line between content and readers/viewers and profits?

Last night I was talking about something similar with a friend. I'm fortunate enough to live in a city -- Milwaukee -- where the newspaper does good work. On what it can. Its problem is that it has cut back so much that it can't cover most news. Its three Pulitzers in four years and innumerable other great investigative pieces don't make up for the fact its not even covering the basics -- like the revolution going on in our state after state government was take over by a fringe. My friend's comment? "That's why Patch is handing them their lunch." And Patch is doing it with people who were pushed out of the Journal Sentinel. Am I getting more news from Patch than from the Journal Sentinel? No. But I am getting more news from the variety of Internet locations, including some very sharp blogs.

Meanwhile the Journal Sentinel continued its layoffs. And they included secretaries and photographers -- but not CEOs or vice presidents. They don't produce content.