If traditional journalism is to be salvaged in the United States, then creative new business models will have to be created to sustain it.
On Feb. 25, some 180 members of the Seattle-region media and members of the University of Washington community attended an ONA-sponsored panel discussion to debate what those models might look like.
The panel, held at the University of Washington, was moderated by Hanson Hosein, a former NBC journalist and now the director of the Master of Communication in Digital Media at UW. It was hosted by David Domke, UW Journalism chair.
In contrast to earlier discussions about media in the Northwest, there was little nostalgia for the state of the newspaper industry. Instead, there was acknowledgment of the different challenges that are presented in the digital realm. The discussion was particularly acute in the Pacific Northwest, with the possible closing of the Post-Intelligencer and stories about the Seattle Times’ financial straits.
Several of the speakers noted that there innumerable digital sources of news in the community and ample opportunity for more.
However, there were two key concerns expressed throughout the evening: 1) Where do you find the money to pay for online journalism; 2) How do you ensure that the source of the money does not influence the journalism?
Some excerpts from the discussion:
Corey Haik, of the Seattle Times and the ONA board, expressed the problem succinctly when she said toward the end of the discussion: "It's not a readership problem. It's a money problem." The Times' Web site has huge numbers of readers (as does the P-I Web site) and their online readers are growing all the time. The question is how to find the money to support the Web site.
John Cook, of TechFlash and formerly of the Seattle P-I, argued that it is beat reporting, and not necessarily investigative journalism, that proves valuable to a community. He added that good investigative stories grow out of ordinary, "boots-on-the-street" beat reporting. He disparaged "big project" journalism, which he said is done mainly to win prizes and has unfortunately drawn attention away from solid beat reporting. He thinks his TechFlash site has been successful because he and Todd Bishop practice relentless beat reporting.
Cory Bergman (MSNBC, LostRemote.com, MyBallard.com) suggested a financial answer lies in Web sites becoming the conduit between consumers and sellers. Web sites can generate leads (as cars.com does) or in other ways allow sellers to link up with people who will buy their products.
Monica Guzman, online reporter for the Seattle P-I, discussed the "balance" that she thinks journalists must find between giving up their control and authority and participating in the "buzz" online, while at the same time bringing some trust, analysis, accuracy, fairness, research, etc. to the discussion.
Ross Reynolds, of KUOW, dismissed the suggestion that foundations might prove to be good owners for newspapers, saying eventually they would unduly influence the journalism. And he rebuffed the suggestion of government-subsidized journalism.
Hosein in starting up the panel discussion said we should not be "wringing our hands" in "woe-is-me" fashion as if this happened in the last six months. The decline of traditional newspapers, he said, has been going on for years.
For more coverage of the session, follow the #ONAseattle and #ONAbrink hastags on Twitter.
The session marked a first collaboration between ONA and the university; and Hosein and ONA board members Tom Brew and Cory Haik are planning future sessions.
The two-hour session was videotaped and will be available soon for ONA members.
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