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The future of Grand Rapids media

joeDowntown

By joeDowntown
in Grand Rapids

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GRobserver Whistle-Stop

GRobserver

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Just a couple of thoughts...

I'm not sure news consumers would be well served by user-selectable online aggregate news services. There's something valuable and constructive about the serendipity of a general coverage publication, just like there is something valuable and constructive about a Liberal Arts degree. Getting your information exclusively or predominately from sources you feel some affinity with is a very dangerous thing and ultimately makes for a myopic, dumbed-down, polarized, intolerant populace.

While the concept of 'citizen journalist' sounds appealing, in practice what you often end up with is public-access television in ink at best. I'd like to believe kids coming out of J-school want to use their training to do the right thing with it, to tell great stories, work as the eyes and ears of the public in matters of government scrutiny and accountability, integrity in commerce and in some sense, a moral compass for the greater good. Sadly, the days of the benevolent publisher or broadcaster are gone, replaced by hideously large corporations and private equity groups with little or no connection or interest in the community they claim to serve other than to extract as much revenue as possible.

Maybe the best we can hope for is for mainstream outlets to die a swift death and watch the carpetbagging owners dash off to some other venture. Maybe then, writers and editors, photographers and beat-wonks will be free to pursue their craft without the expectation of a 30% ROI hanging over their head. In a perfect world some of the media ownership regulations would be reinstated, but the last politician to undercut the very institutions that keep them front and center in the mind of the voter will be the first.

The takeaway of my bleak assessment? Support media outlets that sustain the precepts of what journalism is supposed to be, reject the one's that don't and hope emirging technologies fill the voids without corrupting themselves in the process.

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blueradon Hamlet

blueradon

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Would if be more cost efficient to sell their downtown property - and lease a space just for reporters and the like so they can have people there to be in the area of the news? It would seem to make more sense to me to have all their printing and operations take place at the new facility in walker - and hey there's that new building cluster on monroe center that's going to have the upper floors converted into offices - what a great space for them to move to! Then we can finally once and for all tear down that nasty building and put something decent up there...maybe we can make new LEED Government buildings and tear down the old nasty ones across the street

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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Would if be more cost efficient to sell their downtown property - and lease a space just for reporters and the like so they can have people there to be in the area of the news? It would seem to make more sense to me to have all their printing and operations take place at the new facility in walker - and hey there's that new building cluster on monroe center that's going to have the upper floors converted into offices - what a great space for them to move to! Then we can finally once and for all tear down that nasty building and put something decent up there...maybe we can make new LEED Government buildings and tear down the old nasty ones across the street
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PR-15 Whistle-Stop

PR-15

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One issue with online media is that the user has a very short attention span on any given page or site. Most people aren't going to spend the same amount of time going through the online version of the Sunday NY Times than they will with the actual paper version w/a cuppa joe...people behave differently online and traditional news media haven't figured out how to resolve that with the audience yet.

A bigger issue is that news and RSS feeds remove any need to actually physically visit a given URL to read the content (that can't make their online advertisers very happy either).

I think media models like Rapid Growth are emerging as one slice of a preferred pie as to how the public will get their news...hopefully it will not be the exclusive source since you won't find anything negative about the community in RG and its editorial model is for brief, positive stories which are geared toward an "I'm looking at this at my job" web audience.

It's an interesting time...the whole print media world flipped over on its head the last 24 months...lots of breathtaking change.

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allbusiness Whistle-Stop

allbusiness

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I think media models like Rapid Growth are emerging as one slice of a preferred pie as to how the public will get their news...hopefully it will not be the exclusive source since you won't find anything negative about the community in RG and its editorial model is for brief, positive stories which are geared toward an "I'm looking at this at my job" web audience.
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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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I heard a theory yesterday that might hold true, that papers will skip Mondays - Fridays soon and lump everything into a HUGE weekend addition. Basically a paper version of Newsweek or Time.

I do agree that we run the risk of people only reading or listening to their own "peeps". That's how we get brainwashing from the likes of Limbaugh, Hannity, Franken (is he still around?), and the rest of the bunch. We need to have media transparency that is constantly demanding accountability of our local and national politicians, and the business owners who might wish to do us harm.

The problem I have with the local media, is that there is such little breaking news in this city that they cover the most ridiculous things. How is covering a car accident protecting the public good? Another house fire? Snore. Dog dies? Puh-lease. Shooting on the (insert neighborhood here)? If you live in that area, you probably know about it and are either taking precautions or taking action. I just put those on ignore. Let me know if crime has doubled and then I might be interested.

And then when they do cover positive business news, reporters feel compelled to remind us about how bad that businesses' industry is doing nationwide. I really wish someone would explain that to me.

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fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

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Tim Geraghty, the news director at WZZM, has been blogging about the Neighborhood News Bureau concept that the GRCF and Community Media Center are collaborating on. I would think they should be releasing more details on how this is going to work soon, and how to apply to be one of the neighborhoods that get a news bureau.

http://en.wordpress.com/tag/grand-rapids-project/

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fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

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In a special irony, you have old media covering new media and publishing quotes from interest groups and politicians talking about how they want to make old media irrelevant. I love when writers have to try and describe what twitter is, or what Facebook does. Because it's difficult to grasp without being familiar with the terms and the websites. I remember when I first heard about twitter. I thought, "well, that sounds interesting, but what would people ever use it for?" I was certainly not as visionary as the folks who created it. :)

From an Mlive article about Congressman Pete Hoekstra updating his Twitter from Iraq.

http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/0...ecurity_po.html

The episode showcases how eager lawmakers are to use social-networking technology, blogs and other popular sites to connect directly with voters. Congressional staffers say they are being told by their bosses to find new ways to get out their talking points and to no longer rely solely on traditional media outlets like newspapers, which might edit or distort their views.

Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe, for example, recently posted on YouTube.com a lengthy monologue from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on why the military prison there should remain open.

Hoekstra is among those taking the lead in Congress when it comes to using multimedia technology to promote his work. On his Web page, one can "listen to Pete's latest podcast," download his latest television interview on Fox News and view pictures of him making pit stops on a trip throughout his district via an interactive map.

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LA Dave Hamlet

LA Dave

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I think the Press' editorial/opinion section is the reason for their conservative reputation (i.e. the cartoons, the quotes from the Chicago Tribune, the constant supply of right-wing/religious letters-to-the-editor, etc.)

I don't find much bias in the articles themselves; I find it more in the placement of them. For instance, I remember when the Press buried (in the middle of the paper) the article about Sarah Palin being found to have abused power while governor, yet plastered an article ALL OVER THE FRONT PAGE stating that those results were being thrown out. I can count numerous other pointless articles about Palin being on the front page, even after the election was over.

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LA Dave Hamlet

LA Dave

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Today, Advance Publications announced that the Ann Arbor News will close and that the Flint Journal, Bay City Times and Saginaw News are going to a three-day a week publication schedule.

And there is not a single word of this in either of the Ann Arbor or Flint UP sites. I guess that the generation under 30 could care less.

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fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

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Today, Advance Publications announced that the Ann Arbor News will close and that the Flint Journal, Bay City Times and Saginaw News are going to a three-day a week publication schedule.

And there is not a single word of this in either of the Ann Arbor or Flint UP sites. I guess that the generation under 30 could care less.

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Coleco Whistle-Stop

Coleco

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Today, Advance Publications announced that the Ann Arbor News will close and that the Flint Journal, Bay City Times and Saginaw News are going to a three-day a week publication schedule.

And there is not a single word of this in either of the Ann Arbor or Flint UP sites. I guess that the generation under 30 could care less.

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LA Dave Hamlet

LA Dave

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I hardly think those thinly trafficked portions of UP are a good representation of the under 30 set's concerns. The Flint site hasn't had ANY posts since January. Ann Arboe has had no posts since Feb. 5. If anything, it shows the waning interest in UP in those towns (no offense to the more active GR forum members).
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joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

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Not to make lemonade, but I have to imagine that this could mean that the Press facility downtown will be on the market. If they are cutting costs, I would think it would be ridiculous to keep this big behemoth of a building and the surrounding lots.

As for the death of the newspaper, honestly, I have subscribed to the Press for 17 years, and over the last year I have become completely disinterested in reading it. Between the Internet and NPR on my drive to work, by the time I read it it is usually old news. I could easily cancel the paper altogether but will probably hang onto it for a while just to "shop local". ;)

Joe

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fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

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Not to make lemonade, but I have to imagine that this could mean that the Press facility downtown will be on the market. If they are cutting costs, I would think it would be ridiculous to keep this big behemoth of a building and the surrounding lots.

As for the death of the newspaper, honestly, I have subscribed to the Press for 17 years, and over the last year I have become completely disinterested in reading it. Between the Internet and NPR on my drive to work, by the time I read it it is usually old news. I could easily cancel the paper altogether but will probably hang onto it for a while just to "shop local". ;)

Joe

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LA Dave Hamlet

LA Dave

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Not to make lemonade, but I have to imagine that this could mean that the Press facility downtown will be on the market. If they are cutting costs, I would think it would be ridiculous to keep this big behemoth of a building and the surrounding lots.

As for the death of the newspaper, honestly, I have subscribed to the Press for 17 years, and over the last year I have become completely disinterested in reading it. Between the Internet and NPR on my drive to work, by the time I read it it is usually old news. I could easily cancel the paper altogether but will probably hang onto it for a while just to "shop local". ;)

Joe

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