Journalism: what changes, what doesn't

JOURNALISM: WHAT CHANGES, WHAT DOESN’TGEORGE BROCKPROFESSOR OF JOURNALISMCITY UNIVERSITY LONDONNETLIFE, OSLO, DECEMBER 2015

DISRUPTIVE REVOLUTIONS• They don’t happen once, but repeat• Assets become liabilities• Longevity gets confused with relevance• New competitors (Uber, LinkedIn, Atom Bank, Red Bull)• Revolutions should not, need not, sweep away everything• The trick lies in knowing what to throw away and what to

retain• Disruption is not new; it is most of journalism’s history• Late 20th century: historically very unusual• Writing, printing, broadcasting…all disruptive (and

unpopular) in their day

THE REAL CHANGES• Routes on which information travels change: “across” as

well as “down”• Interactivity easier• Frictionless speed and low cost• Above all, volume• The sheer quantity of information available and in

circulation is the largest single change• This is not adaptive or operational change (as many

thought at first)• It is transformative

JOURNALISM• “MSM” (mainstream media) vs Digerati• This polarisation forgot the cycle of reaction to innovation• First overdone optimism, then overdone pessimism, then

balanced synthesis• Decline for print is slow; for terrestrial TV, even slower• Journalism brands and institutions die rarely, and if they

do, slowly• What is in trouble is business model of daily print• Huge consumption shift via new distribution channels

(Facebook etc)• BUT…journalism does something important

THE PLUS SIDE• Engine of opportunity• For bad and good• Experiment Central!• Slow-burn cultural change in controlled

societies• Consumer opportunity to compare and choose

amid abundance• Price of information falls

THE DOWNSIDE• A global village will have idiots and they will

have global range• Value of information falls as supply expands• Managing abundance• No immediate “replacement” business model for

news• Newsrooms have old-business-model staff costs• Engagement is harder: attention can be

switched every few seconds

SEQUENCE OF CHANGE1. The web2. Smartphones3. Tablets4. Apps to apps + connected devices5. Next…robot/AI journalism, ad-blockers, virtual reality

WHY ARE WE STILL CALLING THEM “PHONES”?

THIS TRUTH DOES NOT CHANGE“It is the imagination, ultimately, and not mathematical calculation that creates media; it is the fresh perception of how to fit a potential machine into an actual way of life that really constitutes the act of ‘invention’.” Anthony Smith, Goodbye Gutenberg, 1980

WHAT IS JOURNALISM FOR?

• The systematic search to establish the truth of what matters to society in real time

• 4 core tasks which newsrooms practice:• Verification (Storyful, First Draft)• Sense-making (Vox, Quartz)• Investigation (TBIJ, ProPublica)• Eye-witness (Groundtruth, GlobalVoices)

THE TEST

•Value• Are you adding value for which people

(users or advertisers) will pay – preferably again and again?

• …in a world in which anyone with a smartphone can summon a lot of information with one finger?

EXAMPLES OF VALUE (1)• Data

“There are still reporters out there who don’t know what all the fuss is about, who really don’t want to know about maths or spreadsheets. But for others, this new wave represents a way to save journalism. A new role for journalists as a bridge and guide between those in power who have the data (and are rubbish at explaining it) and the public who desperately want to understand the data and access it but need help. We can be that bridge.”Simon Rogers, Facts are Sacred (2011)

VALUE (2)• Search

• Google-funded project is researching, piloting and evaluating new software called JUICE, to implement creative search strategies that journalists can use to strengthen investigative storytelling more efficiently than with current news content management and search tools. It builds on…advanced creative search algorithms and interactive creativity support."

• Others at work in Bergen, Trondheim, Brussels• Explanation (reaction to abundance) – e.g. Vox• New story-telling syntax: written words + audio-visual• Aggregation/curation• Editorial responsibility and care

MASTERING CHANGE• Unleash your inner anthropologist• Data is your friend – if you have qualified people

to tame it• Experiment better than innovation• Think hard about the quality and discipline of

experiment:• How are we measuring success?• If it fails, can we kill it?• What does it take to do a proper test?• How many tests do we need?

TARGET + STYLE/VOICE“Online it’s easier to go narrow to go big. At ED, we target sub-sets and groups: night owls, people who wear glasses and/or beards. We don’t talk to them, we talk with them. What are the most interesting sub-sets? Takes a ton of experimentation to find ‘em.”

Greg Dybec, Managing Editor, Elite Daily (top site for US millenials, sold to Daily Mail 2015)

LIKELY BARRIERS• Failure isn’t seen as useful• In experiment, failure is often educational and

illuminating• Today’s deadline and emergencies take

precedence over exploration of the future• Journalism is seen as a mission and a vocation:

heresy is punished (by other journalists)• Ordered to “innovate” or “think outside the box”,

people (usually) freeze.• The “box” isn’t there any more

CHANGE-MAKING INVOLVES EVERYBODY

EDITORIAL

PRODUCT ORGANISATIONAL

ANOTHER WAY OF PUTTING IT“To stop your technologists disappearing up their own agenda…draw on the wall three circles which all intersect: journalism, CRM data and technology. The draw a large arrow in the small area where all three overlap. Then make the techies look at this diagram all day. It’s surprising how easy this focus is to lose.”

Matt Shearer, Head, BBC News Labs

STARING AT THE FUTURE• Mobile digital daily consumption has reached 51% in the US

and is at over 40% worldwide (KPCB & JP Morgan). The Guardian: we expect two-thirds by end 2016

• The “trifecta of terror”: ad-blocking, ad fraud (aka non-human traffic) and viewability (aka responsive design). (Dan Williamson, TheMediaBriefing)

• There are 16 sensors in the average smartphone: content could be adjusted for every piece of data about what the user is doing. (Frederic Filloux, Monday Note)

• “We’re probably not that far from software which will predict how well or badly an item of journalism will do with a particular segment of the audience.” (Seth Rogin)

• Oh, and video consumption is exploding

BACK TO DISRUPTION• Hold on to what is important whatever the

era• You need intelligence about what is

happening• You need agility to adapt to rapid change• Never lose focus on what makes your

journalism work of distinctive value

JOURNALISM: WHAT’S ALTERED?

CHANGING• Information

routes, velocity, quantity

• Interactivity• Biz model• Purposes refined

UNCHANGED• Moral/democratic

purpose• Truth-telling• Attracting

attention• Threats

WWW.GEORGEBROCK.NET/@GEORGEPROF