The Changing News Business Adapted by Dr. Mike Downing from News Reporting and Writing, Eighth Edition

Convergence Print Online TV Radio Benefits? Cross-promotions, payroll savings Challenges? (next slide)

New Challenges The Internet: Good or bad for journalism? Various new media: Cell phones PDAs Video Blogs Chat rooms FaceBook, Twitter, etc. Today’s journalists must be prepared to deal with all of these message-delivery systems.

Media Monopolies Relaxed ownership standards have enabled media companies to establish a greater share of any particular local market. Is this good or bad? Some say bad: Fewer owners reflect less diverse opinions. Some say good: There has never been a time where you can get so much information from so many sources (much of it free).

Media Conglomerates Clear Channel Communications Disney Sony Entertainment Time/Warner Microsoft Fox Knight-Ridder Cox ESPN The New York Times NBC/ABC/CBS

The Role of News Media Information or Entertainment? Info-tainment? Do college students care about news? If so, what kinds of news? –Politics? –Local? –Sports? –Weather? –Music? –Fashion? –Religion? In reality, if you are going into the news business right now, you should be thinking about preparing messages for people who are much younger than you. What are the emerging demographics of eight- to ten-year-olds, for example? What are their values?

Ethics in Journalism Is it ethical to prepare a demographic analysis of eight- year-olds? Is it ethical to market to children? Does it happen in today’s world? What are the boundaries? We will return to this topic in the future, but I wanted to bring it into the conversation early.

Newspaper Production: Working with an Editor Chief editors (also known as City Editors) might make changes themselves and send your story on to layout--or they will kick your story back to you for specific changes. Do not take it personally if an editor kicks a story back to you. This happens all the time. Once a story is approved by a chief editor, it goes to a copy editor. Copy editors check for misspelled words, adherence to style, grammatical errors, ambiguities, and errors of fact. All copy editors are different. Get your hands on the in-house style manual, if one exists. Learn the preferences of the copy editor so that you can save time and agony. For example, I know a copy editor who will strike the word “just” from any story. Another will always strike overwritten words or phrases: “utilize” will be struck in place of “use”. Get used to it. Newspapers I’ve edited or advised: The Clarion Call, The Cube (of Butler County Community College), The Chancellor (of Mercyhurst College North East), The Tom- Tom (East High School)

Magazines Whereas newspapers typically have daily, twice-a-week, or weekly deadlines, magazines typically work on monthly schedules. This gives you more time to prepare your work, but it also increases the expectations of your editors as well as your readers. This means that, since you have more time, the depth and accuracy of your stories must be impeccable. In addition, because magazine pages are more expensive to print than newspaper pages, magazine writing involves “writing to fit.” In other words, you may find that your 800-word article needs to be trimmed to 500 words. Ouch. In such cases, magazine editors will choose to run the article in two parts. Magazines I’ve edited: Lightwave, Integrated Communications Design, Portable Design, Business Solutions, Integrated Solutions.

Newsletters The newsletter industry is growing rapidly Newsletters are typically aimed at highly specific audiences. They feature detailed analysis of a particular industry or special interest. Some newsletters have subscription rates in the range of $500+ annually, depending on the content. Newsletters I’ve edited: Mass Storage News

Online Media Public Information Utilities: Associated Press (AP) United Press International (UPI) Reuters Microsoft Network Yahoo Google

Final Thoughts If you plan to publish any form of media, be sure to identify your potential advertisers beforehand (unless income is not an issue). Look into professional organizations: American Society of Newspaper Editors The Society of Collegiate Journalists (SCJ). Magazine Publishers of America Newsletter and Electronic Publishing Association

The End