I am not foolish enough to don a flight suit and land on an aircraft carrier under a banner proclaiming "mission accomplished," but I think it's time we recognized that things have changed in the newspaper industry. The events of the last year or so -- the undeniable impact of blogging on civic life, the collapse of Knight-Ridder, the troubles at Tribune, the painful series of layoffs and "redundancies" at U.S. and U.K. newspapers -- have finally pushed just about everyone in a position of power to admit we simply can't continue to party like it's 1999.
We have their attention. Now what?
I've been talking with folks attending the Online News Association conference and hearing some fear of this newly awakened print beast. A number of major newspapers -- USA Today, New York Times, Financial Times are examples -- have announced they're unifying their print and online news operations, and there's fear that it will be an anschluss in which the very people who have guided newspapers into trouble will emerge on top.
Several years ago I was at a Zurich gathering at which psychologist-cyberneticist Peter Kruse peered into our minds and extracted the notion that we would not be able to solve our problems until onliners could ascend to the top of our news organizations. That has in fact happened at a number of newspapers and nearly happened at Knight-Ridder, with Hilary Schneider in line to succeed Tony Ridder. But as I said the other day I've also seen onliners tossed out as oldliners won power struggles. We're going to win some and lose some. Do we have the persistence and clarity of vision to come out ahead in the long run?
Comments
very hard for onliners to get respect in a top-down world
Steve,
Onliners (such as myself) will have a tough time for awhile. We have to learn how to communicate in two different realms and sometimes the switch--or interface--between the two is not easy.
And it isn't a matter of software engineering inasmuch as it is a worldview that comes through use and interaction. When you see the world, neighborhood, and social relationships as flat, and everyone else sees them as "hyperlocal," "global" and top-down, communication can be difficult. It's almost like apples and oranges...and is, in a many respects, like moving between two different cultures.
For awhile, it will be ugly, and some of us will get trampled, but there is a generation that's used to being online--how much they will compromise to fit into the world of top-downers will be interesting to watch unfold.