social media graphic
So yesterday I was on the phone with a reporter from a Tampa Bay newspaper who told me that he loved my story about client Lee Brandon and had met her before and would love to cover the story but that due to cutbacks and layoffs at the paper he wouldn’t be able to do the story. He promised to pass the information along to colleagues though. Then in a conversation with my sister last night, it got me thinking once again about where media is going. On the one hand, we have our new President, who throughout his steady and disciplined campaign reached out to young and old alike through social media–not only his Web site but also through “twittering,” to those hunger for Obamanews. Yet at the same time, newspapers around the nation continue to dwindle. Our very own Republic has laid off countless staff, the Scottsdale Tribune will fold after the first of the year and BizAz is no longer and history. Where will the information age go next? It’s true we have moved from consumers of information to prosumers of information, creating our own content on the web..blogs, podcasts, video uploads, etc. Yet with no “journalistic integrity,” how can we always be sure that content subscribes to the same ethics and balanced approach that reporters have sworn to uphold from the time the first news hit the press a century or more ago? And then there is the reality of advertising. While consumers are bombarded with messages from every part of life, TiVo allows for fast forwarding and reduced readership means fewer advertising dollars to support printed content…where are we headed? My sister says that for the first time in her life she feels like she is connected to an American President. She can share her ideas and her feelings on Obama’s website. Trust me, I believe that even during his presidency I believe he will continue to use social media to stay connected to the American public. Yet I am still conflicted. Communication at the highest level while locally news dwindles. Great stories need to be told, the question is from where will they be born?
