Robert Hernandez: March 2010 archive
For many, the local newspaper isn't dying - it's already dead
March 19, 2010
The doomsday scenario has been on everyone's mind, including some at SXSWi, since the revenue/circulation has dropped through the floor and the brilliant mind of Clay Shirky articulated "thinking the unthinkable."The scenario, in short, is what will happen to a city when the last major newspaper dies?
Who covers our city? Who becomes our watchdog? What happens to our community? Who tells our story?
I would propose that this scenario, in many aspects, has already happened.
NOTE: I'm not saying this to offend or be rude or for shock value or to make anyone feel guilty… I just felt that someone should state what seems obvious.
Okay, here goes: If you are white, and probably a male, you may not have noticed that we've been living in this doomsday scenario for years, if not decades.
For African Americans, Native Americans, Asian, Latino… or gays… or under 25… or female… they know that their communities have been, and continue to be, routinely left out of their newspaper. They typically make the news for holidays, crime or food.
For many of them, newspapers aren't dying… they're already dead. More...
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DIY and passion give birth to a new journalists' weekly on Twitter
March 5, 2010
For me, it began with a snarky tweet: #journchat Bad name, good PR.Apparently that tweet touched a nerve and prompted Web journalists to come out of the Twitterverse to express agreement.
Before I continue, let me define two things:
- #journchat is a Twitter chat that is “an ongoing conversation between journalists, bloggers and PR folks” held weekly on Twitter. Created by @PRsarahevans, the first Twitter chat was held Monday, November 24, 2008. While it has “journalism” in the name, it skews heavily toward public relations.
- A Twitter chat essentially is a regularly held chat, usually weekly, on a specific topic… tied together through a hashtag. A group of Twitterers gather and talk about whatever… blogging, book editing, etc.
Moments after that snarky tweet went out the hunger for Web journalists to network and learn from each other was apparent.
It makes sense.
We’re a community that is constantly evolving, struggling to find the “right” solution for our unique situations… from inside our newsrooms… often alone. Many of us have met at conferences or through social networking, but never regularly.
It was that passionate need mixed with the DIY-spirit of the web that got @lilgirlbigvoice, @killbutton, @kimbui and myself together to create #wjchat within five hours from meeting each other the first time. More...
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