ISOJ 2012

1. Creating the
Future of News
Questions to Consider
Richard Gingras
gingras@google.com
April 20, 2012

2. Disruption in Media
Not the first. Not the last.

3. Disruption in Media
 Shi$s
in
distribu-on
shape
the
business
model
 The
40
“golden”
years
of
newspaper
profitability
was
triggered
by
an
earlier
media
disrup;on:
television.
 Open
distribu;on
of
the
Internet
eradicated
print
distribu;on
leverage
1949 1959
Newspapers
TV

4. Brand & Scope
Defining products
in a marketplace of niches

5. Brand
&
Scope
 Content
economy
is
less
about
demographics;
more
about
context
and
relevance
 Disaggregated,
open,
and
filled
with
niche
players
 Cross-­‐subsidiza;on
was
important
for
newspapers.
Now
it’s
more
difficult
 Consider
the
cost/revenue
economics
at
the
segment
level

6. Brand
&
Scope
In
a
marketplace
rich
with
niche
players,
does
an
all-­‐
things-­‐to-­‐all-­‐people
“portal”
product
make
sense?
Might
it
beSer
be
thought
of
as
a
stable
of
focused
brands?
Q:

7. Audience Flows
& Site Design
Optimizing for multiple
entry points

8. Audience Flows & Site Design
Story Page
75%
Home Page
25%

9. Audience
Flows
&
Site
Design
How
do
changes
in
audience
flows
impact
site
design,
or
indeed
trigger
the
rethinking
the
very
defini;on
of
a
website?
Q:

10. Content
Architecture
Capacity is unlimited.
Creating content is expensive.
Use it all.

11. Content
Architecture
 Not
about
edi;ons.
Not
about
ephemeral
streams
of
ar;cles
 It
can
be
a
real-­‐;me,
living
resource
 The
story
page
is
the
most
valuable
real
estate!
Ephemeral anthrax attack article Persistent anthrax attack resource

12. Content
Architecture
Should
we
not
explore
and
adopt
new
approaches
that
maintain
the
full
expression
of
a
reporter’s
efforts
in
one
place
behind
a
persistent
URL?
Q:

13. Style & Form
“Every new medium begins
as a container for the old”

14.  The
right
form
for
the
right
medium
–
long,
short,
other
 The
evolu;on
of
the
social
network
post
 Effec;ve
user
of
embedded
links
and
footnotes
 Properly
tuning
for
search
 Leveraging
rich
media
when
it
makes
sense

15. Style
and
Form
In
a
culture
of
bullet
points,
updates,
and
posts,
are
there
approaches
to
conveying
in-­‐
depth
journalism
that
move
beyond
the
current
templates?
Q:

16. Computational
Journalism
Big data. Smart data.
Knowledge.

17.  Computer
programming
to
mul;ply
the
value
of
a
reporter’s
efforts
 Inves;ga;ve
reports
wriSen
with
Fusion
tables
and
query
strings
 A
logical
part
of
the
resource
mix

18. Computa;onal
Journalism
Can
computa;onal
journalism
be
used
not
only
to
help
with
stories
but
eventually
become
persistent,
automated
inves;ga;ve
reports?
Q:

19. Reporter’s Tools
Getting the most out of a most
precious asset

20. Reporter’s
Tools
Since
the
medium
can
accommodate
the
full
expression
of
a
reporter’s
work,
is
there
not
huge
value
in
developing
tools
to
op;mize
a
reporter’s
efforts?
Q:
2.0

21. Organizational
Roles
The right approach for the right
medium at the right time

22. Organiza;onal
Roles
&
Workflow
 The
role
of
a
reporter
when
tools,
;ming
and
procedures
are
different
 The
role
of
an
editor
in
an
edi;on-­‐less
environment
with
mul;ple
forums
to
engage
 The
use
of
different
resources
from
computa;onal
journalists
to
the
trusted
crowd

23. Organiza;onal
Roles
&
Workflow
Given
current
and
future
advances
in
how
news
is
gathered,
organized
and
presented,
does
that
not
require
a
complete
“digital
first”
rethinking
of
editorial
roles
and
workflow?
.
.
.
Q:

24. Organiza;onal
Roles
&
Workflow
.
.
.
Are
there
new
approaches
that
let
news
organiza;ons
leverage
the
assistance
of
the
trusted
crowd?
.
.
.
Q:

25. Organiza;onal
Roles
&
Workflow
.
.
.
Might
we
benefit
from
systems
that
allow
small
news
orgs
to
collaborate
and
work
together?
Q:

26. Culture of Innovation
It is not a luxury.
It can’t be intermittent.1
It must be part of an
organization’s DNA.2
1. Cycle of change is too rapid
2. No, it’s not a Chief Innovation Officer!

27. Culture
of
Innova;on
How
do
we
staff
news
organiza;ons
with
the
right
resources
and
the
right
mindset
to
imbue
constant
innova;on
into
the
culture’s
DNA
and
into
the
role
of
every
par;cipant?
Q:

28. A Different World
Quality journalism is more
important than ever

29. A
Different
World
 The
Internet
can
offer
support
any
opinion,
belief,
or
fear
and
give
it
greater
volume
 We
can
no
longer
say,
“trust
us
because
you
should
trust
us.”
 We
need
new
methods,
new
forms,
new
tools

30. A
Different
World
Can
journalism’s
future
be
stronger
and
beSer
than
its
past?
Doesn’t
it
have
to
be?
Isn’t
that
why
we
are
here?
Q: