Atkinson Advisor » media industry

Talking Points Memo

admin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:18:43 +0000

Talking Points Memo (TPM) is a must-read publication for professionals and media involved in politics. Time magazine named TPM the top blog in 2009. TPM specializes in original reporting on government and politics and offers breaking news coverage, investigative reporting, and high profile guest bloggers. Related posts:Bait-and-switch mediaNewsmapLosing perspective Related posts:

A story worth following

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:37:01 +0000

The newspaper industry has struggled with the Internet. Its challenges have included readers’ expectation of free content online, the erosion of print classifieds to free listings like Craigslist, and competing with the hyperlocal coverage that social media allows.

One thing that chafes editors and publishers are the news aggregation sites, such as The Daily Beast and Newser, that are popular with online users. Aggregators often summarize the content and then link to the original article. Newspapers claim these sites are stealing their ad revenue and using their content without having to pay the production costs of reporters and editors.

A growing movement among newspaper editors and publishers seeks to protect their business from this latest Internet challenge with changes to federal copyright law. One proposal would bar aggregators from using newspapers’ content for the first 24 hours after stories are posted.

Right now, the future of newspapers appears shaky. Fighting the Internet (and the referral traffic) is probably not the best business strategy to get them back in the game.

This is definitely a story worth following.

Losing perspective

admin — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:47:38 +0000

The fate of daily newspapers is a hot topic these days. The venerable Seattle Post Intelligencer recently changed to an online format and eliminated many jobs after 145 years in business. Denver recently lost the Rocky Mountain News, leaving it with one daily newspaper.

The demise of newspapers doesn’t mean we won’t have news. We will still have plenty.

What many communities will lose is perspective.

In general, newspapers have far more institutional and community knowledge than other media. Their reporting ranks are often more senior and don’t turn over as fast as broadcast media. Editors who have worked their way up from cub reporter understand the importance of reputable sources and researching all angles.

Most importantly, newspapers provide depth. A television station or blog may break a story these days, but newspapers provide the depth of reporting and content. Let’s hope someone else decides to assume that mantle.

Elections are great business

admin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:19:57 +0000

Few people would dispute the bias of Fox News. Others would claim CNN and MSNBC have their own biases.

The rise of cable news puts the equal-time rule of the Communication Act of 1934 in an interesting light. The rule says radio and television broadcast stations must provide an equivalent opportunity to any opposing political candidates who request it.

The rule also allows for several exceptions, including a bona fide news interview, scheduled newscast, or an on-the-spot news event. Those exceptions pretty much define every cable news channel in existence.

Should we as consumers be concerned about bias in cable news?

On one hand, we have to recognize that cable news outlets serve a public interest and should be held to high standards. On the other hand, we have to respect their needs to serve shareholders’ interests, which means picking a target audience that will drive the most revenue.

So, hold on to your remote because there is no season like election season for cable news.

Thankfully, we have a choice our forefathers did not in 1934: the Internet.

Newsmap

admin — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 19:12:46 +0000

http://newsmap.jp/

News moves at warp speed. Thankfully, newsmap is there to keep us current. This online application visually shows which stories are getting the most coverage in seven different categories: world, nation, business, technology, sports, entertainment, and health. Each major story is represented with a box that grows in size depending upon the amount of story coverage at the time on Google News, a news aggregator service that draws from thousands of websites. Newsmap also archives the previous week’s news in six-hour increments.

Make sure to have the latest Flash Player installed on your computer

An explosive combination

admin — Sun, 06 Feb 2005 19:40:08 +0000

Potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur by themselves are relatively harmless chemicals. However, when combined in the right proportion, they create gunpowder.

A similarly explosive combination of advertising, advocacy, and journalism is rocking Washington, D.C., right now.

Armstrong Williams, a nationally syndicated columnist and media personality, recently divulged that the Dept. of Education paid him $240,000 to promote the Bush administration’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) policies. This brouhaha is about a media personality masking advocacy and advertising as journalism — all while accepting taxpayers’ money to do it.

This is a rare case where the client, public relations firm, and media were all in cahoots — purposefully or not, it doesn’t matter — to achieve a specific goal. Advertising, advocacy, and journalism have separate, distinct, and important roles in the marketplace of ideas. Let’s keep them that way.