Sunday 24 February 2013

My 'interesting reads' roundup (weekly)

  • A while ago, someone who shall remain nameless said to be, about a colleague, "he'll never change". It seems to me that is about the most insulting statement you can make about another person - and also the most inaccurate. People change all the time; the issue is more about how they feel about that change, whether it impacts well or poorly on their outlook, whether it's a temporary condition, and how they deal with it. And then there's the self-awareness aspect. Do you know how you react to change, and how open to change are you really? This isn't an analogue/digital consideration - it would be a massive change, for me, if a paywall went up on dailypost.co.uk. I don't like paywalls, I don't believe they work; how would I cope with that change? Anyway, John Paton, CEO of the Journal Register Company, deals with all these issues in an excellent piece on the Global Editors Network site. Worth a read. "Everyone says they are open to change, everyone says they are willing to make the necessary changes with the technology shifts. But there is a big difference in recognizing that you need to change and actually changing. There are these momentous debates going on in the news community claiming that the demand for new technological innovations are cheapening journalism, and user generated content and social media are cheapening the quality. I think those kind of discussions are based on a false premise, which is that everything used to be better. The question I would pose is “Are you truly adopting change and bringing your skills, passion and dedication to using these new tools to make journalism better?” If you are not, you better get out of the business."
  • Nieman Journalism Lab considers the pros and cons would-be buyers of the Boston Globe face. A really interesting read. "Make no mistake: 2013, as your friendly newspaper realtors would tell you, is a great time to sell. The last 18 months have seen the greatest volume of deals in the last five years. And, why not: There’s a mildly up economy, all-access is bolstering revenue optimism, and heck, the Oracle himself, Warren Buffett, is buying newspapers by the dozen. The only problem for sellers is that prices haven’t moved much up."
  • Elsewhere in my Diigo bookmarks is a poignant blog post by Mimi Johnson about her husband, Steve Buttry, quitting journalism and how relieved his decision made her. Of course, nothing is forever - even quitting journalism - Steve has returned and become probably one of the best-known people transforming the industry today. But this post by Abigail Rieley, a long-standing court reporter, is worth a read. It's hard to fall out of love with something you have known all your life - maybe she'll find a trial separation was all that was needed... "After almost twenty years I’m getting out of journalism. Years ago, when I was planning on following in my parents’ footsteps and becoming an actor, I eventually decided against it because I knew the pitfalls all too well. There was no idealistic cushion against the hard times I knew damn well would come. I’ve reached that stage with journalism. I’ve always been a news journalist but I’ve been letting my objectivity slip for a while now. I don’t think there’s any getting it back. I thought I’d be a hack till the day I died but not anymore. I find myself dreaming of a job outside the media, away from newsrooms, away from filing copy. I just don’t love it any more and that’s probably the point to say goodbye."
  • Interesting question from Martin Belam, who ends his post with the view that he'd love the opportunity to research the WHY of this more deeply. Good point. "The big mystery for the publishing industry though is just why iOS users are so much more engaged and valuable to their businesses than Android users"
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sunday 3 February 2013

My Interesting Reads

  • This is an interesting question from the Post and Courier, Charleston. Do you notify someone if you're going to use their tweet? Industry sites sometimes embed my tweets and I get a surprise when I see them - but I take the view that I've said it in public and so it's fair enough.  But what about when it's friends posting tributes on a Facebook wall  that happens to have a public profile? These get ripped off all the time.  As to whether we should ask people if they post on a newspaper's Facebook wall if they mind being published, I think not, although the Daily Post does tend to say 'we'll publish a selection' when posting something soliciting feedback. 
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.