the financial crisis, networks and future of news
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“The Financial Crisis, Networks and Future of News”Rolf Rosenkranz, Editor, The Development Executive GroupThe global economic downturn reminds us how important it is to share information and coordinate actions globally. The news media may help if it functions as a platform for trusted experts to exchange in-depth views and ideas.TRANSCRIPT
The financial crisis, networks and the future
of news
Rolf Rosenkranz
Editor. Devex
ICGFM conference. Miami. 5/19/09
The problem• Downturn in global growth
• Decline in commodity prices
• Tightening of credit
Francis Fukuyama
Why?• Asset prices rising unsustainably
• Debt resulting from prolonged credit expansion
• Inability of regulators to keep up with new financial instruments
The mediaIFAD. EU Financial Crisis News. Crisis Talk. IMF’s Public Financial Management blog. Economist. OECD Observer. Financial Times. Inter Press Service. Devex.
Coverage• USA: no credit for Dr. Doom
• South Korea: trial vs. “Minerva”
• Russia: “We do not have it”
• NL: “Withdraw cash from ATM machines while you can”
Ignorance. Lack of access. News grind.
Cause + effectIgnorance. Desensitization.
Mistrust. Fear.
Pew: Bleak economic outlook causes U.S. to…
Sept. Oct. Dec.
Cut back vacation spending
48 % 59 % 62 %
Change savings or investments
39 % 48 % 60 %
Adjust retirement plans
23 % 26 % 32 %
Pew: Understanding the economic situation
Very well
Fairly well
Not well
Total 24 % 49 % 27 %
Men 30 % 50 % 20 %
Women 19 % 48 % 33 %
Pew: What the U.S. public knows
Gov’t wants banks to… (lend more money)
83 %
Who holds most U.S. debt (China)
71 %
Timothy Geithner’s job (Treasury sec.)
58 %
Current unemployment rate (ca. 8 %)
53 %
“Considering the wall-to-wall media coverage of the financial crisis, it is startling to see how few Americans have a grasp on
the most basic economic facts.”
-- James Bowers. managing director.
Ctr. for Economic & Entrepr’l Literacy
News coverage milestones
• August: U.K., Japan and others enter crisis mode
• October: Iceland financial crisis
• April: London G-20 summit
Media trendsConcentration. Privatization. Ad wars. Less collective bargaining. Pay decreases. Generation shift. New media. Decreasing quality.
Information = news
Media = press
Audience segment: Traditionalists
• 46 % of the public
• Older, less educated, less affluent
• Heavy reliance on TV news
• Strong interest in weather
Audience segment:
Integrators
• 23 % of the public
• Middle-aged, well-educ., affluent
• TV is main news source, but regularly online
• Strong interest in (political) news
Audience segment:
Net-newsers
• 13 % of the public
• Relatively young, well-educated, affluent, male
• Read political blogs > watch network news
• Strong interest in tech news
2008 U.S. TV news coverage
• Pres. elections (ca. 3,700 mins)
• Economy (ca. 2,800 mins)
• International coverage (1,900 minutes)
-- Tyndall Report
International coverage on U.S. TV
• Iraq: 244 minutes (88 from Iraq)
• Beijing Olympics: 236 minutes
• Afghanistan: 126 minutes
• Sichuan earthquake: 119 minutes (94 from China)
-- Tyndall Report
Pew: Foreign news coverage online
• 27 % of total news
• Key topics: Pakistan, Israel-Palestinian Territories conflict, Zimbabwe elections
• Press: 17 %
Foreign coverageOverseas bureaus closing. Reliance on wire services. More freelancers. More competition. Parachute journalism. Multimedia. Time pressure. Global audience.
Journalism’s cardinal sins
• Publish easy-to-gather stories
• Select safe facts and ideas
• Provide “false balance”
• Give audiences what they want-- Nick Davies, author, “Flat Earth News”
“News organizations will have to do more than adapt to changing technology; they will have to solve their economic problems in a manner that will benefit their customers.” -- Stuart Loory, editor, Global Journalist
Winners?Trade publications. Bloggers. Software developers. Mobile
phone companies. Consultants. Nonprofit media. GlobalPost.
Content sharing. Pay-per-view. Custom-tailored news. Google.
ONA: Online journos optimistic
• 54 % say journalism heading down wrong track
• 57 % say Internet is changing journalism values
• 82 % are confident profitable business model online will be found
News sought onlineWeather. Science & health. International. Technology.
Business & financial. Politics. Sports. Entertainment. Local.
Social media
Blogs• South Korea
(92 % read, 72 % write)• Philippines
(90 % read, 65 % write)
• France (78 % read, 31 % write)• Canada (56 % read, 22 % write)
-- Universal McCann
Online communities• Philippines (83 %)
• Brazil (75 %)
• China (64 %)
• United States (43 %)-- Universal McCann
Social media:
The business case• Mass media
• Creative consumer
• Viral marketing
• Human touch
Credibility
Networks• Public Expenditure Management
Peer Assisted Learning Network
• Jordan Professional Communities
• Devex
100,000 develop
ment projects
1 million developm
ent professio
nals
200 major donor agencies
She needs a filter
We’re learning from…
Network science“the organized knowledge of networks based on their study
using the scientific method”-- National Research Council
Cesar Hidalgo
Worlds apart…
United States
Kenya
One stop Value-added Wisdom of crowds