Independent publications not as important anymore
Cadence Design's Brian Fuller dusted off his personal blog on Journalism last week and asked a question he's asked before: Are journalists/editors necessary?
The question comes on word of two major personnel losses at EE Times -- Dylan McGrath and Peter Clarke -- and is one that I answered in the affirmative several months ago. But as I read his piece I was struck by one particular graf.
"But there’s a sense of unhappiness in our ranks. We can crank out that content all day long, but if there’s no one to validate it or call B.S., then we become an industry of echo chambers."
If that's the way veteran journalists respond to the changes in the industry, then we should despair. But I think, now, that Brian's asking the wrong question. Are independent publications necessary? My answer is, not as much as in the past.
This is something I've said in other ways in the past, but I think journalists have lost a bit of spine in the past half century, relying on the illusion of independence provided by their employment. That corporate shield is going away, but the need for an independent voice has not. As corporate journalism, especially in the B2B sectors continues to contract the vacuum is, in fact, being replaced by a more egalitarian, though inelegant solution -- the voice of the audience. (watch our video discussion of this)
And it is going to take trained journalists, acting truly independently although under the employ of another industry's corporations, to help give them a platform.
Something I've learned in the past year is that customers generally have a better understanding of a corporation's products than anyone in the corporation does. But there are myriad barriers to getting that perspective out in the sunlight where it can do some good. Not the least of those barriers is the belief in a corporation that the customer is stupid and needs to be led. Journalists in corporate employ, like Brian, have a unique opportunity, as well as skill, to get that information into the hands of current and prospective customers. They could not do it when they worked in a publication for fear of not being "objective" but within a corporation they can find that nugget that completely avoids the engineering, marketing, sales and C-suite minions. That is an incredible value to everyone.
That does not mean that the independent publication is useless. Not every company can afford to hire an in-house journalist full time, nor can they all run their own publications. Small, niche publishing houses like Tech Focus Media and publishing behemoths like UBM fill the need of a platform for those companies (who should be paying for the benefit, BTW), but the days of an independent media adequately covering an entire industry disappeared in 1999.
This is the age of the truly ethical and independent journalist and it doesn't matter who we work for. Our ethical standards belong to us, not a corporate master. The truly ethical corporation will see the benefit in this and will bury their less ethical competition.
Lost "a bit of spine"? In my opinion, journalists at tech pubs have lost ALL their spine over the last couple years. Terrified of losing advertising money and their jobs in the process, they've become fearful, cowering, toothless weaklings. I know... because it happened to me and I regret it terribly. I used to be so proud of my journalistic integrity and sheer audacity as a journalist (or tech blogger if you will), but as the noose tightened, I tried desperately to become more "accommodating," to tone it down and "grow up" (see: sell out) in order to save my own skin. A tactic that failed and continues to fail for any journalist left in the industry. I know UBM wants editors to be "community leaders" rather than gatekeepers of content... but what they don't understand is that spineless, toothless, fearful journos don't inspire anyone to form a community around them. If I was to do it all over again, I wouldn't compromise or water myself down... people like to follow strong, opinionated, knowledgeable people. Anything less is an insult.... both as a community manager and content creator.
ReplyDeleteDon't hold back, Sylvie. Say what's on your mind ;)
ReplyDeleteSorry, was that a bit too honest? Whatever... I'm done self-censoring. It's unhealthy :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know folks, the current traffic, engagement and other stats suggest that the EE Times and EDN readers are very engaged. For me, the key customer is the reader - get that right and the advertiser should follow?? Sylvie, no need to compromise, every need to be engaged and I know you are!
ReplyDeleteI'm not so sure, about the advertising, Paul, but I agree with the engaged reader. The problem is there are more readers to engage than independent publications that can handle their input. The independent journalist may not have a place in UBM anymore, but I think they do have a place in branded but independent publications like CIO.com
ReplyDeleteLou, here's the crux of the issue: "Not every company can afford to hire an in-house journalist full time, nor can they all run their own publications."
ReplyDeleteIn any industry there's a long tail composed of most of the industry's companies, medium and small. Unless there's a revolution, I don't see them altering their age-old SG&A structure to improve the ranks of their communications departments.
So they need a healthy independent media and there isn't one right now. The upstart publishing houses are growing on the sponsorship of the big dogs and their pricing packages are just too expensive for the average company.
The point I was making is that the big dogs are creating their own waves but they realize that's not the be-all and end-all. They too pine for the independent media they helped emasculate. It's an evolution.
And on the topic of courageous, independent B:B reporters, there never were any. I'm pretty sure mainstream media broke stories about Silicon Valley groundwater contamination in the '80s and '90s. I'm pretty sure we didn't break stories about fab workers' health problems as they entered retirement (although we did cover the trials). I'm pretty sure the NY Times wrote about Foxconn and working conditions and not an Apple fan boy site.
That said, we can still use stalwart reporters working for solid media outlets in B:B uncovering the technical issues and trends of the day and writing about them without fear or favor.
Firstly, my comments here represent my views only :)
ReplyDeleteAre independent publications dead? No. But the model has changed and will evolve.
If independent publications were dead, Forbes.com would not have grown from 15M to 50M users and their BrandVoice platform would not have taken off the way it did.
Lets take a look at one more stat: As per the "The State of the News Media 2013" report (http://stateofthemedia.org/2013/overview-5/), nearly one-third of the respondents (31%) have deserted a news outlet because it no longer provides the news and information they had grown accustomed to. So, this begs a question: "Do independent publications know what their readers (true customers) want?"
This is the question we are trying to answer at UBM Tech (EE Times, etc.) by data. And these answers will equip our content teams (not journalists) to create the right content at the right time. The delivery of this may vary by medium but in the end the message has to reach the right people.
In his first address to the staff at Washington Post, Jeff Bezos told the staff that the paper's success depends on drawing readers into a "daily ritual habit” of reading numerous stories across different subjects.
The key here is the identification of habits (cue-routine-reward loops) in our customers and how they can be leveraged to deliver more personalized content.
Amandeep, don't put words in my mouth ;) Never said independent publications are dead. I said they are not as important as they once were. More to your point, independent publications may not be sources of news and analysis created by independent journalists. That news might actually come from corporations who hire people like Brian Fuller. We're neck deep in the change but the one direction we can't go now is back, so we have to look forward. Remember, it wasn't until about 40 years ago that we actually had a standard of ethics for journalists.
ReplyDeleteYou don't need to be courageous or muck raking to be a valuable and independent journalist, Brian. You don't even need to be an employee of a media company, as you have demonstrated and in spite of what Senator Feinstein believes. You just have to DECIDE to be independent and act accordingly, Yes, it would be wonderful if we could crank the clock back and get the kind of media we were so used to and took for granted, but we have to remember that was just a financial paradigm that has collapsed. As you point out the desire for independent journalism is still there, and it can be an incredible value to corporations that realize its value, as Cadence has done in hiring you and Richard Goering.
ReplyDeleteTime will only tell if it works, but consider this: In its investment in media, Cadence has created an infrastructure with an audience that potentially rivals that of EE Times, but without the need for maintaining a revenue flow through advertising. As Sylvie points out in her comment, that burden to bring in revenue weighed heavily on her and on you, if I remember our conversations correctly. That doesn't happen in an independent publication. You've extolled in your social stream the new freedom you have for creating content. It sounds to me that Cadence Design, along with Intel, Qualcomm, Adobe and multiple other corporations are actually creating independent media within their own ecosystems.
So the question really isn't : Can corporations actually create independent journalism? It is already being done. The real question is: When will everyone figure out the new paradigm.
And if anyone has a problem figuring it out... http://www.footwashermedia.com/Footwasher_Media/Webinar_signup.html