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New Technologies, Media Industry Changes, and

Implications for Journalism/Media Education

Clement Y. K. SoSchool of Journalism &

CommunicationChinese University of Hong Kong

Salzburg Global Seminar, 30 July – 2 August, 2010

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Presentation Outline

1. Technological changes2. Media industry and social changes3. What the US and European media

have been doing: lessons learned from 2 study trips

4. Journalists as knowledge workers5. Implications for journalism/media

education

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Technological Changes

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Technological Changes Rise of new media technologies:

Wi-Fi (1985), WWW (1989), Yahoo! (1994), IE (1995), online news (1995), HD TV (1996), Google (1997), Blog (1997), Facebook (2004), YouTube (2005), Twitter (2006), iPhone (2007), Internet users (1.67 billion in June 2009), iPad (2010)…

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Technological Changes Society is technologically driven or

“interactive technology”, not “determined technology”

Rise of new media formats: newspaper free dailies, online news TV cable, webcast, podcast

Media convergence: breaking media and geographical boundaries, increasing competitions

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Technological ChangesTraditional MediaTraditional Media vs. New Media vs. New Media

1 Unidirectional flow Interactive

2 Mass audience Segmented/ individualized

3 Territory bound Globalization

4 Time bound Immediate

5 Individual media as platforms

Multimedia platforms

6 Authoritative reporter

Empowered audience

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Media Industry and Social Changes

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Social Changes

Changes in people’s lifestyle Other non-media activities

compete with media for people’s time and attention

Different taste strata Youngsters have different media

habits

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Media Economic Crisis

2008-09, global financial crisis hit all fields, including journalism

In 2009, New York Times laid off journalists, cut salaries, sold part of its building, 1 billion in debt, print sales below 1 million but had over 20 million free Web subscribers

Many US newspapers folded Similar situations all over the world

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What the US media Have Been Doing

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Visiting US News Media

In May 2008, a JEF delegation of Hong Kong journalists visited New York and Washington, D.C. for 2 weeks

News media visited: AM New York, ABC News, NBC News, Fox News, American Press Institute, College of Journalism at U of Maryland…

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Multimedia Operation A TV station has morning news, entertainment

programs, evening news, free news website If there is an exclusive news, where and when

to air? How to manage them under one umbrella? Needs a “news portfolio manager” to

coordinate and balance, with knowledge of different media and understanding of company’s basic interests

“Break down the silos”

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NBC News

NBC’s Today Show: 4 hours daily, 7-11am, news + information + entertainment

Unified news team different platforms (evening news, Web, cable, blog)

Again: “Break down the silos”

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ABC News

1-person correspondent in overseas stations

Digital reporter Establish digital platforms to

increase revenue

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Fox News

Use a lot of graphics Presenters talk to (not down

to) audience, not relying on celebrity anchors

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Free Newspaper: AM New York

Strategy: care about the neighborhood events

“Connect to people in gut-level”

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American Press Institute (API)

Specialized in training print journalists

“Newspaper Next 2.0” program to help newspapers survive

Expand from print, include other formats

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American Press Institute (API)

Mobile Journalist: “Mojo” Journalists are not elites, but hav

e to “breath with the audience” News and information: must be u

seful and relevant to readers

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Philip Merrill College of Journalism, U of Maryland

Journalism is no longer “one size fits all”

Rise of citizen journalism (cf. traditional journalists)

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Philip Merrill College of Journalism, U of Maryland

Impact of new technologies: Online journalism (Journalism 2.0) Breakdown of boundaries Multimedia operations Multimedia transmission “Mojo” courses (different ways to

express oneself)

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Philip Merrill College of Journalism, U of Maryland

What is “good journalism”? Let users’ customize news products Let users participate in the process Use of multimedia Information has width and depth With brand name effect Guaranteed source of income

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Philip Merrill College of Journalism, U of Maryland News media must:

Become “part of the mix” Has credibility Has creativity (multiple perspectives

and interactive) Print media: explain Multimedia: show Interactive media: demonstrate, link

Link up with readers

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Philip Merrill College of Journalism, U of Maryland

Content: Web 2.0 New reporting methods How to blog How to report news for the Web Digital audio and podcasting

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Philip Merrill College of Journalism, U of Maryland

Content: Shooting and managing digital photos Shooting video for news & features

stories Basic video editing Writing scripts, doing voice-overs Putting it all together

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The State of the News Media

Started from 2004, yearly report, available on the Web

Published by Project for Excellence in Journalism

Methods: Content analysis (70,737 news items) Journalist survey (N = 585)

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Findings: General

American news industry was worse and more complicated

Major problems: Separation of advertising and news News on the Web cannot find advertisers

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Findings: Newspapers

Lose advertising (7% drop per year) and readers (2.5% drop per year)

Cut back on work force, outsourcing

“I’m past bleeding, we’re into amputation now”

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Findings: News Websites

Have more viewers Good use of technologies But does not have good

business /revenue model Major strategies: assimilation,

acquisition, partnership

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Findings: TV

Network TV still stable in viewers, but slight decline in advertising

Form Web partnership with others Reduced staff: 1-person station Cable TV on the rise, but not its

impact in major news

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Findings: Radio

Multiple listening platforms (AM, FM, satellite, HD, Internet, MP3, podcasting, mobile phone)

Segmented listeners, diversified programs

Put more resources on the Web, establish social networks and on-demand news

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Special Report: “The Changing Newspaper Newsroom”

Reduced manpower and news New recruits have to have

multiple talents, eagerness, know technology

Newspaper websites: source of hope and also source of fear (declining news quality)

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Implications for JLM Education Rise of new media / digital reporter

students need technological literacy and sophistication

Media convergence do not limit oneself to 1 or 2 media formats

Empowered audience understand changing roles of reporter, not elite, breath with audience

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Implications for JLM Education

Social changes know the society and audience, connect to people, diversified needs

Rise of citizen journalism know and use the social media

Financial crisis need economics and finance knowledge

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Implications for JLM Education Break down the silos ability to beco

me multimedia, work in a team 1-person correspondent do it all by o

neself, need multi-skills, be a “mojo” “Multiple” as keyword: media, skill, o

peration, transmission, audience “Newspaper Next 2.0” be part of t

he future (journalist 2.0 / 3.0)

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What the European media Have Been Doing: Print

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Visiting European News Media

Another delegation went to 4 cities in Europe, May 15-28, 2010

Visited a number of news media organizations and international agencies

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News Media Visited

Newspapers ：1. Axel Springer2. Der Spiegel3. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung4. Dow Jones / Wall Street Journal5. Financial Times

TV ：1. Deutsche Welle TV (DW-TV)2. Sky News3. BBC: Persian Service, BBC Future Media

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Axel Springer One of Europe’s major newspaper gr

oups, has more than 250 publications in 30 countries

In Germany, has a newspaper market share of 24%, including Die Welt and the tabloid Bild

Face different types of readers, with both serious and sensational contents

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Axel Springer Die Welt group has 6 newspapers In the past, 6 separate editorial and

marketing units, now become 1 Matrix organization: synergy operations

under same umbrella: for better efficiency and competitiveness

Reporter: “write one story for all” Future directions: mobile media, digitized

content, Internet development

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Der Spiegel Der Speigel has 1 million circulation in Euro

pe Ownership model: staff has 50.5%, the rest

belongs to 2 companies Joining staff will get shares according to ra

nk and year of service, sell it back to company when leaving

Senior staff are appointed through election

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Der Spiegel Success formula: revenue mainly through s

ubscription (60%) ， few web readers, but will have paid iPad version

Never has financial loss, has to avoid it (otherwise the staff will be responsible)

With 100+ editors and reporters, but another 60 full-time “fact checkers”

Publishes lots of investigative reporting, has to keep the information accurate

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Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

A national newspaper in Germany, distributed in more than 100 countries

280 news staff, daily circulation = 370,000 copies Has 85 local and overseas correspondents,

making contents more varied and unique (3 in Beijing)

No owner or chief editor, owned by a foundation Run by 5 independent “publishers” New publisher to be appointed by existing ones

collectively

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Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Social news page has its publisher and commentary, so does the finance page

Commentaries may contradict each other Advantage: diversity, internal competition High-end product, can still make profit,

survivable in a large enough segmented market

Facing new technology and market changes

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Dow Jones / Wall Street Journal Dow Jones is an American financial service

with global presence, including the Wall Street Journal

3 parts: newswire, website, newspaper Designed to maximize resources, contents

in different parts partially overlap but not totally

Top of “pyramid”: provide instant financial information to a few customers at very high premium prices (“freshness” of information)

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Dow Jones / Wall Street Journal

Arrangement of work flow is based on speed (as life line)

Different time of delivery: huge difference in pricing

Premium clients: in milli-seconds (only 0.2 second delay is tolerated)

Established incentive system: reporters’ number of exclusive stories shown to all

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Financial Times Financial Times is a British international

finance newspaper, major competitor of Wall Street Journal

Focus: global presence, fee-charging model, premium products

To employ the best people, to produce first-rate content in order to generate revenue

Integrated newsroom and marketing department

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Financial Times Multiple platforms/outlets: newspaper, web

site, iPad, Kindle, etc. Try to have a new model for information dis

tribution and revenue generation “iPad is a game changer” Reading traditional newspaper: “lean back

” experience; Web reading: “lean forward”

Historical task: slowly move from print to Web platform

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Implications for JLM Education

“One story for all” ability to meet different tastes and demands

Fact checkers be as accurate as can be, professionalism

Different ownership and operation systems adaptive power

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Implications for JLM Education “Pyramid” structure and emphasis

on speed know one’s priority and ability to deliver on time

Employ the best people having quality, be the best professional

“Lean forward” experience be progressive, forward looking, global vision

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What the European media Have Been Doing: TV

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Deutsche Welle TV Established in 1992, a German

broadcaster for non-local audiences With 3,000 staff (radio, TV and

website) Free of charge, supported by

German government Broadcast in German, English, Arabic

and Spanish language

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Deutsche Welle TV Provide news, information and

cultural programs Target audience: upper/middle class

& young people, overseas Germans, those who need information

25 million audience per week Try to “educate the mass”, provide

quality programs

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Deutsche Welle TV Purposes:

1. Promote Germany and its culture2. Provide news and information

A satellite free service, hard to measure ratings and performance

Gets 300,00 emails per year Problem of public broadcaster: low

efficiency Public media with government support

still has its role and characteristics

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Sky News First British station to offer 24 hours

satellite news Has 10 million subscribers in the UK Has TV, radio and website Sky News is a commercial enterprise Characteristics: modern, forward-looking,

sharp, concise, focus on breaking news Editors of local news, international news

and Web sit together to facilitate communication

Every reporter has multiple skills to serve different types of media

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Sky News “Sky News Active” ： 4 sub-channel

s within 1 channel1. Headline2. Weather3. Other major news (1)4. Other major news (2)

Integrate: image, text, photo, live coverage

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Sky News Also reply on Twitter, Facebook, MySpa

ce, mobile phone for live reporting, making social media as information source

How to verify: depends on journalists’ news sense and judgment

HD news broadcast to attract subscribers to pay

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BBC Persian Service TV service launched in January 2009 Provide satellite service to Iran, Afghanistan

and Uzbekistan and Tajikistan Estimated audience: 12 million (Iranian

population: 60 million) As an alternative choice to Iranian official

media With both TV, radio, and web services Programs: news, information, cultural, sports

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BBC Persian Service Had major impact on last year’s Iran

ian presidential election Curbed by Iranian government, seen a

s hostile media, reporters expelled Many Iranians provide free informatio

n and video clips Uses Twitter, Facebook, mobile phon

e as news sources

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BBC Persian Service Rise of social media can provide

news and information, but its credibility is a concern

BBC’s requirement on verification: at least 2 independent sources to reduce errors

Information knows no boundaries with the help of new technologies

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BBC New Media Service BBC started its iPlayer service in Dece

mber 2007, with latest update in May 2010 (only available in the UK)

Has 150 programs for download each week (15 minutes after first broadcast)

Download platforms: Virgin TV, iPhone, Nokia, Wii, PS3, etc.

Can view programs in past 7 days

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BBC New Media Service Three guiding principles:

1. Reflect tastes of viewers2. Add social dimension3. Make viewing simple and interesting

Purposes: 1. Personalized service2. Socialized service (friends’

recommendation, chatting with friends while watching)

3. Convenience (can pre-download)

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BBC New Media Service New technologies extend scope and quality

of service, making it more convenient and personalized

4 choices ：1. Featured ： BBC recommended2. For you ： what you should like3. Most popular ： others’ choices4. Friends: recommendations from friends

4 different types of image quality to choose

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BBC New Media Service iPlayer can bring programs to: home,

office, mobile phone (anywhere) Can use “shout” button to express v

iews instantly Has links to other broadcast channels Secrets for success:

1. Good technology2. Massive appropriate content

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BBC New Media Service

Keywords for media to excel: speed, mobility, interactivity, convenience, self-selection, fee-paying model, exclusiveness, quality, value-addedness

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Implications for JLM Education To educate the mass to retain ideals

and ethics despite market imperatives Commercial operation be modern,

forward-looking, sharp, cost-effective Rise of social media importance of

journalistic judgment and verification Keywords (speed, mobility,

interactivity, convenience…) know the trends

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Journalists as Knowledge Workers

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Some Characteristics of Knowledge Society

1. Knowledge as “means of production”

2. Information-based organizations: knowledge workers as major workforce, fewer middle and top management staff

3. Information challenges: From “T” to the “I” in “IT”

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Some Characteristics of Knowledge Society

4. Knowledge management5. Global competition6. Partnership7. The change in distribution

channels

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“6M” News Organization

The “6M” news organization:  Multiple journalistic talents  Multiple content partnership  Multiple production resources  Multiple revenue models  Multiple distribution platforms

(online, offline, wireless)  Multiple audiences

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What is a Knowledge Worker

Frances Horibe:“Knowledge workers are people who use their heads more than their hands to produce value. They add value through their ideas, their analyses, their judgment, their syntheses, and their design.”

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What is a Knowledge Worker

Peter Drucker:“Knowledge workers are people whose jobs require formal and advance schooling. Formal schooling enables them to enter knowledge work in the first place, and continuing education throughout their working lives to keep their knowledge up-to-date.”

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Journalist as Knowledge Worker

Characteristics of knowledge /media workers: Autonomy (manage themselves) Innovation, adding values Continuous learning Quality High mobility With areas of expertise (assets)

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Conclusion: What Do We Do and Desire

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New Curriculum Initiatives at Chinese U of Hong Kong

Course Level: add “mobile journalism”, digital storytelling & other Web training courses, financial news courses, individual research project, website: more interactive & AV oriented

Stream level: from print to multimedia, more streams (journalism advertising/PR, creative, global media)

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New Curriculum Initiatives at Chinese U of Hong Kong

Curriculum level: Theory + practice 1 stream + multi-streams (or no streams) Journalism + non-journalism aspects Global view + local concern (“glocal”)

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Desirable Traits of Journalism/Media Graduates

Holistic knowledge worker & modern citizen: Knowledge + skills + values Technologically sophisticated Adaptive, flexible & self-

motivated Independent continuous learner

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Desirable Traits of Journalism/Media Graduates

(Cont’d) : Active & social conscious (know

the trends) Be professional: multi-talented,

tough, speedy, accurate, ethical, quality, good taste & judgment

Forward-looking & progressive

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Framework: What Shall We Do

A. Philosophy: Be adaptive and flexible: continuously

synchronize with media & social changes Knowledge society initiative: professional,

modern outlook, future orientedB. Hiring and Re-training of Teachers: Teachers with technological literacy,

cross-media experience desirable

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Framework: What Shall We Do

C. Curriculum design: Increase technological components:

new courses and in some old courses Media convergence: breakdown the

silos/boundaries among media formats

Multiple skills: cross-media abilities Matrix design: correspond to

“matrix” media organizations

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End of Presentation!

Thank You!