Posted on Wed, Jul 14, 2010 @ 06:30 AM
What do we call people who report the news these days? I find it amusing that the industry is struggling to come up with new names for reporters. Are they VJ's? Backpack journalists? Multi-media journalists? Multi-platform reporters? Perhaps you prefer the old-fashioned "one-man band" name.
Since when does a change in technology dictate finding a new name for yourself? Musicians didn't become digital recording artists when they started putting their songs on iTunes. Hearst recently announced that their reporters were all being trained to create and distribute material in all sorts of places - but they were sticking to the "reporter" name. Good call. In the newspaper world, photographers who grew up shooting film now shoot digital still pictures and take video, too. So are they photographers or videographers? Or digital jounalists?
One thing is certain -- for the readers/users/viewers who receive information, it really doesn't matter what we call ourselves. This new identity crisis of ours is just a reflection of the industry's temporary uneasiness with technology change. A reporter who filed a story by telegraph 100 years ago was still reporting. Yes, it's cool and it requires some new skills, but does sending a story using a Droid phone really require a title change?
- John Altenbern
Posted on Thu, Apr 22, 2010 @ 10:32 AM
You're a TV station, right? All this stuff about Facebook and Twitter and even your web site itself... that's all just extraneous busy work that makes sure you keep up with the fads. Right? Uh, we don't think so.
Maybe you saw the good news this week about about the economics of the Internet (a TVB/Borrell study just out says local online ad revenues for TV stations is expected to increase 21% in 2010). But this isn't about cash flow. It's about your identity as a dominant provider of content.
We think the stations that survive to the next stage of this industry's evolutionary cycle will be those seen as powerful and reliable information providers ... seen by the consuming pub.jpg)
lic as being better at it than the other stations in town. WCCO in Minneapolis will likely be a survivor. Check out this blog from MinnPost.com that takes a look at how WCCO has such a strong online presence. Here's an important excerpt from writer David Brauer's blog:
WCCOers -from reporters and weathercasters to producers and promotions people -just seem more jazzed about the future than your average news organization. Twitter seems to crackle with station personnel chattering about the station's latest efforts, seeking and seeming open to feedback, talking up interesting efforts they see elsewhere. Almost every organization has such folks, but ‘CCO's cadre seem to have achieved critical mass, emitting an esprit de corps enthusiasm more authentically charming than those hoary "we all love each other" promos.
Brauer made note that WCCO is the only station that has an easily recognizable "digital mastermind" as a driving force. About three weeks ago, the CJ&N Newsletter distributed an article to our clients looking at how two local TV stations, WNEM in Saginaw and WJZ/Baltimore, have made huge strides in signing up Facebook fans (WJZ now has more than 44,000 fans!). Based on our talks with the news directors of both stations, we realized one thing the two stations had in common was a sharp and progressive digital content manager.
To have a strong digital identity in your market, you must first have a strong digital identity inside your own TV station. Your long-term survival could depend on it.
- Mike Anderson