sure, papers aren’t going away tomorrow, but the business model of the last 100 years is fubar.

check out that CHART!

but, denial is a tough thing to overcome… especially when you can gin up a study that favors your pov.

People will continue to find the web more relevant than TV because it’s non-linear by nature. I can drill as deep as I want on what I find interesting, and skim the stuff I don’t.

I think that if TV focuses on competing with the web for pure relevancy, TV loses. The trick is figuring out how to turn the broadcast product into one that complements the interactive prodcut. Create a feedback loop with your audience/contributors — the best and most relevant stuff from the web bubbles up into the newscasts, and the most compelling material from the newscasts is a launching point for deeper material online.

Making something relevant is not the same as making it compelling. TV can concede relevancy to the web but still make the product compelling — we just have to give up on the one-way mindset we’ve worked under for the last 40 years.

You’d think you worked in a building where Dorothy Bullitt used to roam the halls. Too bad we do not have any more Dorothy Bullits roaming TV station and newspaper hallways anymore, or Marty Haags either.
Maybe they’re out there but can’t cut through all the
bullshit anymore.

Maybe the place for good people isn’t within the
confines of broadcast and media organizations anymore. Maybe those talented people need to
strike out on their own and challenge the leaders.
The barrier to entry no longer includes a transmitter and tower or a printing press and trucks.

Dan

And again, TV forces everything on you because it’s a linear medium. Online, you can choose to click if you want. And you can choose just the read the first line or two if you want.

Duh.

If this is true, why are these crime, death and sensational stories getting the highest pageviews?

This is what Pew Internet’s tracking research has been showing for a couple of years now, along with those of many others. This doesn’t mean traditional sources are irrelevant but surely there is competition.

Online video boom and social media are obvious drivers. Two years ago, your only choice was to read tiny, dense text and online news was more of a ‘news junkie’ habit. Now one click gets you streaming video. And, it’s easy to go viral with links via social media or email.

If you work in the newspaper or television business, ignore and dismiss this at your peril. Just ask any “real” person you know how often they REALLY read the paper or watch the 6 or 11 o’clock news.

“Zogby International was commissioned by [WE Media] to conduct an online survey of [1979 adults].”

I’m shocked, shocked to learn that internet users prefer to get their news on the internet!

This is just as useless as the Magid-HA survey from last week. Zogby controlled for age/race/region, etc., but didn’t control for internet usage habits, so we have no idea if these respondents spend more or less time online than the average American.

I will ask this — how many infrequent/occasional internet users do you know who will voluntarily take time to fill out internet surveys?

I hope someone will start conducting some real research on how Americans’ news consumption habits are changing… but this certainly isn’t it.