Math for the Networks

Gen X + Gen Y = An Audience Harder to Delude Than We Baby Boomers.

It's not pre-calculus, but it's close. The equation comes from a quick read of Merrill Brown's article Abandoning the News published in the Spring issue of the Carnegie Reporter, the online journal for the Carnegie Corporation of New York foundation. Mr. Brown's premise is that the future of American news is being threatened by the younger generations tuning out and away. Now I find that an interesting angle to investigate. Unfortunately Mr. Brown doesn't offer any facts to his premise. Scanning through the report you'll probably come to the same conclusion I did: here is some overpaid journalist-turned-consultant who got paid thousands of dollars to write well-known facts about teens and college folks using cell phones, the web and Palm Pilots to access news, moaning about it as if in 2005 that were news itself.

Mr. Brown writes, "... through Internet portal sites, handheld devices, blogs and instant messaging, we are accessing and processing information in ways that challenge the historic function of the news business and raise fundamental questions about the future of the news field."

Fine, but is that threatening the amount of news consumed?

Brown adds. "... clearly, young people don't want to rely on the morning paper on their doorstep or the dinnertime newscast for up-to-date information; in fact, they—as well as others—want their news on demand, when it works for them. And, say many experts, in this new world of journalism, young people want a personal level of engagement and want those presenting the news to them to be transparent in their assumptions, biases and history."

So for once the major networks will have to acutally report a real story, vette the issues and not just share and re-write a pretty version of the AP Wires, let me get a tissue. Maybe I'm jaded but this is where I think Mr. Brown earned his money. He keenly uncovered and revealed interesting blends of business and grassroots romances including The Command Post a site created by a worldwide network of bloggers set up to cover stories and package links to other sites that add documentation. The Bakersfield Californian's approach to citizen journalism was also mentioned with its Northwest Voice Project illustrating how a community weekly paper and its internet site can provide really localized news. In addition the financial success of the multi-faceted and fascinating Craigslist.com an uber site with city-specific laundry lists trumpeting everything from jobs, to prospective spouses to a used bicycle was discussed. Apparently the Craiglist.com website has reportedly re-directed $50 - $65 million dollars in ad revenue away from San Francisco Bay newspapers alone. These facts are probably provoking news executives 'round the world to regroup and react to this new environment.

Before I continue on a tangent, read the survey data and powerpoint. If you have a chance, write Mr. Brown himself at Merrillbrown02@hotmail.com. He is a dot com journalist from the print world and was the founding editor-in-chief of MSNBC.com (1996 to 2002.) He also served as a senior vice president of RealNetworks and was a founder of Court TV. He started his career in print and was the Wall Street correspondent for The Washington Post.