Are media ethics passe?

Hamilton Nolan at the website gawker.com suggests that media ethics are outdated.

His proposal for replacements: 1) disclose, 2) vote, 3) realize the category "analyst" exists only in the mind of journalists themselves, 4) hire whomever you want, just don't let their investments color their coverage, 5) you can be friends with someone, or you can cover them, but not both, and 6) know that "opinion" is not a dirty word.

My view, as a journalist of many years who followed a strong ethics code: Hogwash!

A more reasoned approach is that, yes, it's very hard to remain objective, and I have nothing against most of his suggestions. I just would work harder. Journalism depends on verification, and that doesn't mean getting an extremist from both sides to weigh in on a subject and then calling it "balanced." It means finding out the facts as best you can, and presenting it in a fair manner. It means not mixing analysis with reporting without clearly labeling it. The problem comes, I believe, often with new media and television, both areas where analysis and commentary are often combined. That doesn't absolve print, but the problem is less there.

Journalism and Andrew Breitbart -- they shouldn't be used in the same sentence

Once again Jay Rosen has come up with a perceptive take on the media. This time, he looks at the fiasco that was ABC News' attempt to meld right-wing blogger Andrew Breitbart, best known for deliberately airing a doctored video accusing a black federal official of racism, into it's election night coverage.

It's instructive because he deconstructs what seems to have happened in the frame of contemporary journalists attempting to show balance by using extremists on both sides, thinking that one's lies offset those of their opponents ("lies" may be a bit strong, but I'm awfully sick of the extreme lies of the last political advertising cycle, lies that any sentient being should know were falsehoods). By using the Breitbarts of the world (or even the James Carvilles or William Bennetts), television has ceded any authority of even claiming it was committed to the truth.

These are not journalists, folks out there in TV-land. Using them in a journalists' role means you are no better than Fox News, which left journalism behind long ago.

Is Washington Post looking hyperlocal?

A new Washington Post survey may presage a strong move into hyperlocal Internet sites. A similar survey earlier on business news was quickly followed by major changes in its business coverage. Hyperlocal seems to win again.

A peek behind a newspaper pay wall

The question of the millenium (at least this one) is this: Will online viewers actually pay for content that used to be free? There's an answer, of corts, from Great Britain but, of course, it comes with all sorts of further questions that need to be answered. The Guardian reports that the Rupert Murdoch paywall at the Times of London and the Sunday Times has cut sharply into online audience. "Total unique monthly UK visitors to the Times site went down from 3,096,000 to 1,782,000 when the wall went up, and that only 362,000 – about 20% – ventured on to pages beyond the wall," it says, but those viewers behind the wall are the most desirable by far, indicating that advertisers may well gravitate toward viewers behind the wall. Or maybe not. We'll find out.

Have media managers botched the iPad?

In what should be a surprise to no one, media managements have totally botched the iPad opportunity, according to MediaWeek. The APS are "clunky," the pricing is vastly inflated, and advertising tactics are unsustainable. Why should media managers (I know the story is about magazines, but the same holds true for all "old media") suddenly start getting smarter just because they are operating on a new platform? They should, of course, but as long as bonuses are based on short-term thinking (especially lucrative if you can sell your company) media executives will continue to insult their customers -- and their companies will pay.

Will video be atop the new media foodchain?

A video-oriented blog talks to an expert and finds, surprise, video will dominate new media. "REELSE, the Online Video Marketer's Guide," posts an interview with Rick Calvert, founder of the Blogworld conference, and quotes Calvert as saying that video is the top of the media foodchain so it will obviously be atop the new video foodchain. Interesting take, although as a word person I still think video is going to need lots of words. After all, there are lots of words on TV newscasts already, and I have yet to see video online without lots of words surrounding it. Is video a great tool? Sure. Maybe the best tool? Possibly. But, in a vacuum, video doesn't exist.

Media companies forming parnerships with universities

Coming soon to the news media near you -- the media company + university hyperlocal news site.

According to Emedia Vitals, an online newsletter, several media companies are forming partnerships with local universities. One of the more aggressive, AOL's Patch, is building its Milwaukee news site. Haven't heard of any attempts to tie up with a local university.

Behind newspaper circulation numbers

AdAge takes a look at newspaper circulation trends (decline is slowing, it says), but says you need to go below the easy numbers to figure out what's going on. The insight, I see, is a quote from John Strum, who heads the National Newspaper Association: "What counts is that newspaper companies continue to retain their most loyal and engaged readers even as they increase print circulation pricing to rebalance their revenue streams." That means that newspapers continue to raise prices, and are working to hold readership. They are are working to build new readership using targeted methods.

Students prefer print newspapers

Poynter Online blog reports its research that college students -- who may be the digital generation and live online -- prefer their college newspapers to be printed on paper.

I agree both from watching online viewership as well as how many Marquette Tribunes are picked up in the printed version. As to why, I especially agree with a student quoted in the blog: "Stephen Heleker, student body president at Boise State University, told me in an e-mail that students spend so much time on computers doing school work that 'they value the respite offered' by the print version of the college newspaper. 'It definitely becomes part of the routine at college.'" As someone who spends hours on computers daily, including hours spent look at news sites, I really value my time to sit with a printed newspaper (I read the Tribune, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Wall Street Journal print editions). I also believe I learn so much more in print.

Why should students study journalism?

NPR's "Morning Edition" has a nice five-minute report on the subject this morning. Interestingly, last week one of my students brought up the same topic. The class ("Publication Editing") discussed it, and we found that three of the 11 class members weren't journalism majors at all -- one was an advertising major and two were English majors. They were taking it because they saw a need for more editing and that specialized journalism training that is so easily mocked these days.

Fascinating story in the New York Times of what one observer called "haiku journalism," coverage of a sensational trial by Twitter. Is it the wave of the future? It's one of them, at any rate.

The Tribune: How to kill a newspaper giant

And now, for the way to destroy a newspaper, read the story of Sam Zell's Chicago Tribune.

As the New York Times tells it, it's a story of lust, hubris, stupidity and arrogance. Sounds believable to me. Actually, it's a very sad story of how badly the media industry is being managed.