The New Reality of News

My iconic role model Frederick Douglass once said, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will.” The seismic shift of power in America going on right now is indeed a response to a massive demand. We are now witnessing a transformation that reflects the values of those who now hold the majority of the power. Change came to America because of the demands of the American people for a better life. We are also witnessing the abandonment of the traditional news media because the American people believe that the news industry does very little to make their lives better.

 

Musical R & B icon Prince proclaims in a recent article “the gatekeepers are changing.” While he was referring to those who control the purse strings of the music industry, the same can be said about the media. The gatekeepers are changing. Indeed, many experts are saying that there are no more gatekeepers. There is no one to monitor what attracts news attention and what doesn’t. This is the new reality of the new technology and it is something that is completely out of the control of traditional media. President Barack Obama doesn’t need the news media to get his message out to America. His political machine accumulated 13 million e-mails during the campaign. He can take his message directly to the American people anytime he wants.

 

The way we think of media will never be the same. The most recent figures show that more than 10 thousand journalism jobs have been eliminated since September and many of us went out the door long before September. What are all these journalists going to do? The smart ones are going to evolve. They are learning how to do journalism differently.

 

Dr. Edward Wasserman, who is the Knight professor of journalism ethics at Washington and Lee University raises some interesting ethical questions in his recent column in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Jan. 10, 2009 entitled “Media moonlighting plagued by conflicts of interest”. He contends that journalists who are now considering their options to utilize their craft in different ways perhaps are facing conflicts of interests with their journalistic values. It’s ironic that the very question Dr. Wasserman raised is actually the answer to this dilemma. Journalists now have to think about whether their professional integrity is being compromised as they practice their craft differently. 

 

I do agree with Dr.Wasserman’s questions about journalists who continue to work with news organizations who also “moonlight.” That is a very tricky area. However, there are a lot of very talented, experienced journalists who no longer work for traditional news organizations who can handle assignments, without compromising their core values. 

 

The traditional view of media that most journalists held when we started in the industry is now old school and a new paradigm has been created. The news industry, just like the rest of the nation’s corporations and businesses, is experiencing cataclysmic change. The news industry, as most traditionalists and baby boomers once knew it, no longer exists. The changes actually started with the burgeoning of new technologies. It was simply amplified by the economic debacle. In other words, it is no longer business as usual in the nation’s newsrooms, which are controlled by a small number of media conglomerates. The emerging media is being transformed by the proliferation of non-traditional media outlets on the Internet and on other platforms.

 

In most cases, the media jobs that journalists used to hold no longer exist and there is little chance that they will ever come back. Thousands of journalists must find a way to make a living and find a way to use their job skills in a different environment. Some have chosen to go into academia, public relations, or do something entirely different. I decided to practice journalism differently as a media strategist and consultant. My company, BreakThrough Inc. is also assisting journalists in a special program named “Journalists To Go.” This program matches independent journalists with opportunities from news agencies, companies, organizations or individuals who need media services. Journalists possess a specific skill set that can be applied in a variety of fields. More media professionals are re-inventing themselves by shifting their focus on how to be a solid journalist in today’s media environment.

 

One of the first things I explain to my clients is that I am a media strategist and consultant, not a public relations professional or a publicist. There is a big difference. Let’s say my client has a cow, but he wants it to be a horse. A PR person may throw a saddle on the cow, try to ride it and call it a horse. But if it moos and produces milk, it is still a cow. A media specialist will demonstrate the value of the cow to the client and strategize on the proper media placement to maximize the exposure and recognition of the cow. Let’s write and accentuate the story of the cow. That’s an example of the difference between a journalistic approach and a PR approach. We help people understand why and how things happen in the media.

 

I do agree with Dr.Wasserman’s conflict of interest questions about journalists who work with news organizations who also “moonlight.” However, there are a lot of very talented, experienced journalists out there who can handle assignments, without compromising their core values, outside the concept of traditional news organizations.

 

As far as the ethical concerns of corporate influence over the objectivity of news organizations goes… that cow is already out the barn. Networks routinely use the news division to promote their programming and corporate interests.  Journalism ethics cannot be dictated by corporate policy. Truth, honesty, openness, fairness and other tenants of quality journalism need to be part of the professional’s core values. And you won’t learn that in J-school. 

 

It’s a new day in journalism and it’s a new day for American media. The challenge for us is to deal with the wave of change or be buried under it.