Media of the masses

“I use the word ‘extinction’ literally. It is likely that the mass media will be gone in 10 years – vanished without trace”
– Danny Schechter, Editor of MediaChannel.org, in the United States

Now hear this. This is the end of the world as you know it. The dinosaur is dying. In 10 years the mass media will be gone. Dead! Kaput!

For any die-hard mainstream journalist, the news appears grim as the continued convergence of media and technology is blurring the distinction between providers, schedulers and consumers of media.
Words such as “blogs” and “citizen journalists” were unknown to most people, even a decade ago.
Anyone with a personal computer and internet access can develop personal programming. Most mobile phones have cameras and the digital video revolution has pushed newsgathering resources into the hands of the public.

We are seeing an explosion of news and information in the form of websites, podcasts and blogs, with ordinary people expressing themselves for anyone caring to log on, tune in or download.
So, where does this leave publishers and broadcasters and where to go now? In a lively debate, representatives of the traditional media and the new players gave their viewpoints, sometimes in uncompromising language.

“There is a radical sea-change happening now, as we speak… Anyone with an idea has the ability to publish. This is going to be the most radical change in television since its invention,” said Michael Rosenblum, president of Rosenblum Associates Television and Consultancy in the United States.
“The vast majority of what is on TV today sucks. It is unwatchable crap for the most part. People are gravitating away from traditional news. It is just not what people want. I produce reality shows and they make money,” said Rosenblum, who has been on the cutting edge of the so-called digital video-journalistic revolution since the late 1980s.

Session chairman Danny Schechter, editor of US-based MediaChannel.org and author of a new book, “Death of Media”, said while some people spoke of freedom of the press, others were talking about freedom from the press.

“Death of the dinosaur. I am referring to the American media and by extension the world media. I use the word ‘extinction’ literally. It is likely that the mass media will be gone in 10 years, vanished without trace.”
Prem Prakash, chairman of Asia News International, India, and a veteran international journalist/photographer said: “I don’t buy into this but it was articulated beautifully. Technology has made it easier for journalists to operate in a more efficient manner.

“I know any idiot can do it. At the end of the day, that idiot has to take it to somewhere to be broadcast. All that has happened is that technology has made it easier for journalists to operate,” said Prakash, a founder member in 1957 of Visnews, now Reuters Television.

In the same vein, Andrew Braddel, AP Television News’s regional general manager for Russia, the CIS states and the Baltics, said a new aspect was the role of citizen journalism, which came to the fore in the (December 2004) tsunami, when many of the first pictures were taken by people with mobiles.
He said the Associated Press for more than 150 years had used accounts of eye-witnesses as initial eyes and ears. Now, anybody is a potential source for journalists, meaning a correspondent at disaster scenes can ask if anyone has television footage or if anyone has sound recordings.
But Braddel said the same rules applied, as they had done for 150 years. “You have to make sure it is authentic and genuine because that is what clients demand from us. Now there is an even greater need, with so many sources, to ensure that it is genuine.”

He also introduced the question of training. “Training of journalists is a major issue that has to be dealt with. In order for the new media to survive, classic journalists need to be trained. We are now creating a new wave of people who do not stick to (traditional) judgments and values.”
John Defterios, vice-president of content and principal anchor at FactBased Communications (FBC), said: “People have woken up to the fact that the next generation is not going to read a newspaper for 45 minutes.

“But the power is still with the traditional media. NBC (in the US) still commands 25-30 percent of the audience. If they keep up, they can win this game… Quality does win out in the end,” added Defterios, whose company is a London-based developer, producer and distributor of international television programming.

And then there is the question of blogs (weblogs). Often all or most of the material on them comes from the mainstream press and is full of links to that press, said John Burke, weblog editor at the World Editors Forum, France.

“Bloggers do form opinions. But, in reality, there are no more than 50 popular blogs people listen to and they all take stuff from mainstream press. People realise when they read these blogs that they are listening to only one opinion.

“Young people just read headlines and a couple of paragraphs. What they want is commentary. There is a feeling that the traditional press is still elitist and not necessarily of their opinion.
“Does news have to come in the form of satire to be taken seriously? It helps. I believe this drives my generation to read more news. To understand jokes on programming, we like humour but we want to know what is happening,” Burke said.