World Editors Forum Releases "Trends in Newsrooms 2008" Report

[Kevin Dugan]

The eight major trends covered in Trends in Newsrooms 2008 are:

1. The integrated vs. the non-integrated print/ online newsrooms
2. Complete media convergence: print, TV, video and radio
3. The most effective means of training the new newsroom
4. Taking advantage of User Generated Content
5. Print reporters becoming video journalists
6. Mobile journalism reconnecting the newsroom with readers
7. Pure online publications
8. New Fusion Design: Web pages inspire print and vice versa

Found here: http://www.newcommreview.com/?p=1257
More here: http://www.trends-in-newsrooms.org/home.php

[Brad King]

This sounded like one helluva conference. I was reading lots of interesting things out of here. I think part of my notion that we're reaching a tipping point, at least amongst publishers, came from there.

In the past few days, I've had several conversations with reporters who have said to me -- said to me -- that they don't like all of this talk about business and money. That what they do is more important than that.

I want to bash my head against the wall. As I explained to someone today; I helped build an online property (a daily news property) that made money -- which was then funneled back into journalism.

That's how it works.

That's the conference I want to see. Forget "integration" and such...how about, what the f*$# should you be doing to make money so you can keep your job.

[Kevin Dugan]

Wow. I'm shocked (genuinely) by the level of this sentiment.

Starving artists, die hungry and broke.

That said, I think passion is critical to a career. But it's still a career which (gasp) involved what some might call a job/work and what not.

If your anecdotes are the rule and not exceptions, the future of journalism is going to have to be a Phoenix from the flames. OK, not THAT dramatic. It just blows me away "that they don't like all of this talk about business and money."

[Brad King]

Well, anecdotal evidence is just that. So I don't hold it as the rule -- but I do know that there is a weird separation (and one that I don't reject totally) between what needs to be told and what makes money.

My point is always this: it's not an either/or.

You can (as I posted on the blog today) make money with content, but you need to be creative. You can't just write something and then walk away, satisfied that you wrote something.

The business of news requires far more commitment and engagement with that.

I think the newspaper business forgot that.