Posted March 24th, 2010 by Andrew Kaplan - Special Assistant to the Future of Media project
Some media executives, like Slate chairman Jacob Weisberg, believe media companies should require readers to pay for content when delivered in a “specific, convenient, dedicated form” such as the iPhone or Kindle, but keep Web sites free.
Posted March 16th, 2010 by Andrew Kaplan - Special Assistant to the Future of Media project
The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism released their very important State of the Media report yesterday.
Here’s the report.
http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2010/
Posted in Ideas and Debates , Information Needs of Communities , Newspapers and Magazines
Posted March 16th, 2010 by Irene Wu
Would you get more of the news and information you want if the government let you direct $200 of taxpayer money toward your favorite media outlets? This is the proposal most recently suggested by Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols in their new book The Death and Life of American Journalism (Nation Books, 2010), which builds on a proposal by Dean and Randy Baker. In McChesney and Nichols’ proposal, every American adult would have a citizen news voucher in his or her tax return. On that voucher he or she could divide $200 among eligible media outlets. Which media outlets would be eligible? Public broadcasters and not-for-profit media, for example. In return for the government subsidy, McChesney and Nichols suggest eligible media should be required to forgo advertizing and to make all their content public domain, in other words, not covered by copyright.
Posted March 12th, 2010 by Andrew Kaplan - Special Assistant to the Future of Media project
The Game Developers Conference was held this week in San Francisco. On the surface, you wouldn’t think that this convocation would be an event of great interest to those working on, and thinking about, the future of media.
Posted March 5th, 2010 by Christopher Clark - Special Assistant to the Future of Media project
Yesterday the Future of Media project hosted a workshop on Serving the Public Interest in the Digital Era to address how the new media environment necessitates policy changes in the FCC’s approach to enforcing the public interest obligation. The day-long session featured panelists discussing the history of media policy, the state of traditional media sources, and how the digital media revolution is changing the way people consume and participate in media. We will be posting the panelists' statements and an archived video of the workshop on the workshops page soon. In the meantime, you can view the workshop here.
Posted in Workshops , Ideas and Debates , Commercial TV and RadioPosted March 3rd, 2010 by Andrew Kaplan - Special Assistant to the Future of Media project
The FCC is holding a workshop entitled “Serving the Public Interest in the Digital Era” on March 4, 2010 from 10:30 am to 5 pm.
The workshop will focus on:
Posted in Workshops , Ideas and Debates , Commercial TV and Radio , Information Needs of Communities
Posted March 2nd, 2010 by Christopher Clark - Special Assistant to the Future of Media project
Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project has released an interesting study about online news consumption. Currently, more people get their news from the Internet than from any other medium, other than TV. Some of the news and information most commonly sought online include weather forecasts, national news, information about health/medicine, and business/financial news. When seeking out these (and other) types of information, most Americans (92%) utilize multiple platforms (e.g., national TV, local TV, Internet, national newspapers, local newspapers, radio) in a typical day. Those who use the web tend to visit only a few news sites regularly, and a significant percentage of online news consumers value portability, the opportunity to participate in creating news, and the ability to customize the news content that they receive. Social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter play a significant role in news dissemination. Check out the study for yourself and view the press release here.
Posted in Research and Studies , Internet and MobilePosted March 1st, 2010 by Dana Scherer - Senior Policy Analyst, Media Bureau
After they lost their radio jobs, deejay Mike O’Meara, sidekicks Robb Spewak, Oscar Zeballos, and “news guy” Michael Elston opted to take their show to the Internet. Zeballos argues that listening to traditional radio programs and advertising is like watching wallpaper: you know it’s there, but you don’t pay much attention to it. In contrast, he says, podcast listeners actively seek out programs, making them far more likely to be engaged in the accompanying commercials. (See Mike Musgrove, “With this Radio Gig, Who Needs FM?,” Washington Post, Feb. 21, 2010 at G1.)
Paul Camp writes in a Future of Media comment that readers who self-select news and information online miss out on the serendipity factor. When you listen to the radio or thumb through a newspaper, you may encounter a hidden gem of a story that you otherwise might have missed. Paul calls this an “unsung beauty” that neither advertisers nor consumers have fully valued.
Another facet of online-offline media dynamics is the “Water-Cooler Effect.” Brian Stelter in the New York Times discusses how the Internet can enable television viewers to alert each other to and engage in national conversations about politics, sports, and entertainment. While consumer split their time between computer and television screens, the two screens reinforce, rather than compete with each other. (See Brian Stelter, “Water –Cooler Effect: Internet Can be TV’s Friend,” New York Times, Feb. 24, 2010 at A1.)
Do you think these forms of gathering news and information will co-exist in the long term, or do you expect one will dominate? What do you think are the public interest costs and benefits of each? How do you think advertisers will react?
Posted in Ideas and Debates , Business Models and Financial Trends , Commercial TV and Radio , Internet and Mobile , Newspapers and Magazines
