Comments on: Churnalism

By: New approaches to journalism « A Man With A Ph.D.

New approaches to journalism « A Man With A Ph.D. — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 01:37:08 +0000

[...] approaches to journalism February 3, 2009 — Richard by mikebaird Churnalism: [Via Bench Marks] As a quick follow-up to this posting, a colleague sent along a review of a new [...]

By: Richard Gayle

Richard Gayle — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 01:17:05 +0000

The latest meme is the idea of non-profit newspapers as discussed in the New Yorker. The St. Petersburg Times is an example, perhaps. Some small, young but strongly focussed newspapers that are not-for-profit are also starting to make some noise. They certainly check facts. Could these be the beginnings of a new rise in objective, information-driven news reporting? They will if the big guys continue to lose focus on what their mission truly is.

By: David Crotty

David Crotty — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:04:49 +0000

Which brings to mind linkbloggers, and news aggregator sites. There’s a delicate balance there in how much content should be used–you don’t want to drive all of your source material out of business, as if you do, there won’t be anything left to link to. Sounds like your freesheets are stepping over that line, short term thinking at its worst.

By: Maxine

Maxine — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 16:31:12 +0000

One thing that somewhat annoys me in the UK is that people are abandoning print newspapers for print newspapers. This will kill the former.
What I mean is that there are about three separate “freesheets” that quickly regurgitate the early editions of the “real” papers (ie staffed with proper journalists, etc) and hand them out free at stations, etc, so nobody buys the “real” paper but takes the freesheet.
Apart from me, I cough up my 90 p a day for the Times. And one or two other people.
But do most people not realise that by ignoring the real paper for the ripoff, they are killing the real thing? (They also leave the freesheet in their train when they have finished with it, creating seas of unwanted newsprint. People who have paid for a paper seem to feel they “own” it and take it away with them at the end of their journey. But that’s another story.)