The Death and Resurrection of Journalism?

The importance of true journalism is arguably on par with society’s need for government, medicine and commerce. It monitors all areas of life to ensure justice, seek out truth and serves as the gatekeeper and agenda setter for public discourse on the most important events and stories impacting the world. For me, the definition of journalism begins and ends with print media and more specifically the newspaper. The oncoming demise of the print newspaper has been predicted, discussed and analyzed, but in 2009 it will arrive. Could journalism die with its most accountable and investigative medium?

The Atlantic is one of the U.S.s oldest publications and one of the best examples of the journalism elite . Earlier this month it sent shock waves through the industry, outlining the death of the New York Times by May. This news comes alongside reports of the Los Angeles Times, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Chicago Tribune  and Star Tribune all facing the possibility of going exclusively online or closing down completely. I lamented this trend in August and suggested the answer and revival of local dailies could be in redirecting its focus on truly being the local voice of the city in which it resides. The Atlantic proposed a similar approach, while the New York magazine wrote of hope through new media types with skill in journalism, developing and design.

Could it be enough though? Earlier this month, tech blog Gizmodo broke that Apple’s Steve Jobs would not be delivering the Macworld keynote address due to health reasons, while traditional media refuted the story, regurgitating Apple PRs explanation that is was more due to “politics than his pancreas.” Traditional media was wrong and with this misstep it fell another notch in its argument of better sources than new media journalist. I do not use the word journalist lightly. 2009 will be a historic year with the ushering in of the first African American U.S. President, the worst economic climate in more than 50 years, the demise of local print media and the resurrection of true journalism through passionate, aggressive new media bloggers.

One last thought on this topic is how citizen journalism and specifically Twitter will mix into this new journalistic environment. I agree with MediaMemo’s Peter Kafka that citizen journalism is important, but will not be the foundation for future news reporting, instead a supplement. A great example of its power is demonstrated in the reporting of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 crash this week. Here is the first photo of the story, posted through Twitter:

The Business Side of Microblogging

Microblogging has arrived. There are now millions of people using Twitter as well as its competitors Pownce and Jaiku. My learnings from the world of marketing points to one obvious conclusion. Where the people go, the corporations are sure to follow.

Similar to earlier forms of online engagement(message boards, blogs and communities), companies must understand that the world of microblogging is about conversations. In the offline world, nobody likes the guy who walks into a room with a bull horn. People generally ignore the interruption or verbally attack it until it goes away. The same premise applies online and as such, companies/marketers need to listen first. Just like any conversation, once you get a feel for what topics are already being discussed, then companies can join in and build on the topic with relevant, useful points. This is online marketing 101, but it still amazes me how often companies ignore these rules.

Chris Brogan wrote an excellent post a couple months back titled 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business. It looks at how you can get started, what topics are appropriate to tweet about, how to authentically build community and the negatives and positives you can expect to encounter through efforts in the realm. I have yet to find a more succinct, yet all encompassing post on how companies can go about microblogging correctly. Some strong examples of companies on Twitter that have joined the conversation and established a following that positively impacts their brand include: Starbucks, Dell, Jason’s Deli, Jet Blue, Kodak, Whole Foods and Southwest Airlines.

There are two sides to the corporate microblogging coin though. The first and possible most important, is how you are engaging with your customers. The other side is how corporations can provide their employees new tools that allow for greater communication and productivity. Enter the internal corporate microblogging tools from Yammer, Present.ly and QikCom. Skeptical? Even Forrester Research begrudgingly states that microblogging has a place in the enterprise 2.0 market that is expected to reach $4.6 billion by 2013. ReadWriteWeb provides more background with a good overview and links to a report by Pitsachio Consulting on enterprise microsharing tools.

Lastly, I recently came across direct proof that companies are listening to the microblogging noise. A family member of mine wondered aloud on Twitter whether it was time for his company to bring Yammer into the fold. I suggested he also take a look at Present.ly and QikCom. In under 24 hours I noticed both Yammer and QikCom were following me on Twitter. Clearly they are listening, I am now wondering when they will have something meaningful to add to the conversation…

TwitterMania – Repersonalizing Communication

The entire point of this blog is to provide an extension for my passion in all things technology that in the last four years can more often than not be narrowed further to web based consumer tools. While I am aware of the latest and greatest, I am not usually an early adopter because I will rarely embrace something until it has proven its viability to live beyond flavor of the year status. I also fancy myself a writer. I deeply respect quality writing and have grown concerned about the degradation of this craft that began with Generation X and I believe only gets worse with each group that follows.

On its face, microblogging appears to have little utility. How can anybody get excited about a medium that only lets you use 140 characters to communicate? What worthwhile discourse can be achieved with such limitations in place? This had been my stance for quite some time.

However, a new environment this year began to take shape in the blogosphere. The blogging elite, those trusted early pioneers that trail blazed a new industry began consolidating and merging with traditional media outlets. In many ways this proved the ultimate success for the format, but whispers throughout the interwebs grew stronger and with greater frequency that the personalization and community building that was at the heart of the nascent blogging culture had disappeared. Then the unthinkable happened. Weblogs network founder Jason Calacanis retired from blogging. The crux of his reasoning was this:

First, please don’t take this as a condemnation of blogging. I love blogs and always will. However, I’ve done my part and I’m looking to strip it down. I’m looking for something more acoustic, something more authentic and something more private. Blogging is simply too big, too impersonal, and lacks the intimacy that drew me to it.

Calacanis answer was to go backward and develop a small, intimate community through an email newsletter. This may work for his needs, however how is this void to be filled for the masses?

Microblogging, the hip new social communication vehicle. Not entirely, in that it is not really that new, but it may finally be hitting critical mass. 2008 presents the nexus for full blown mainstream adoption of the “game changing” renegade publishing format known as blogging and a more social, mobile and personal tool known as microblogging. While there are several companies in this arena, the clear king of the movement is Twitter.

I have known about Twitter for nearly two years, but I just could not make sense of why anyone would use it. That said, the rabid support that is demonstrated by Twitter fans is on par with those of Apple, and the noise generated by its followers began to pique my interest.

I took the leap and have suggested to friends that I cannot remember my life preTwitter. Its similar to how I view the importance of message boards, email and latter instant messaging. All four use the internet to remove the barrier of time and location to allow users to build and maintain communication with friends and family as well as develop relationships with individuals you have never met face to face.

The power of microblogging is now clear to me, but does it mean the death of “standard” blogging? A recent Wired article argued just that, but I think WordYard provides the best refute to this claim. I agree that the blogosphere longtail will become a bit shorter because of microblogging, but the blog is here to stay. It gives anyone a voice (without space limitations), an incubator to develop writing in a digital age and a personal journal for those with less ambitious ends that only desire a place to communicate with friends and family. Oh yeah, but did I mention microblogging is awesome…