When I was up at the PANPA (PAcific Area Newspaper Publisher’s Association) Conference at the Gold Coast on Monday I had a coffee with Mark Jones, IT Editor of The Australian Financial Review and Hugh Martin, Editor of News.com.au. We discussed the future of newspapers. There was some workmen making a bunch of noise next to us, which explains some of the audio interference.
My mother just emailed me a link to this video about using "bump keys" to open locked doors. As interesting as the video itself is, the point is this: MY MOTHER sent me a link to something on Google Video! Surely that’s a sign of a tipping point? (I think the Book of Revelation also had something to say about what happens when your mother sends you a link to Google Video… I think it’s one of the signs).
This makes me think of an argument I’ve been having lately with a bunch of MSM people. It’s this idea of "watercooler chat" media. There’s this idea, which may be true in part, in the minds of the mainstream media that we (their audience) have some Maslowian need to all watch/read/listen to the same thing so we can talk about it the next day around the watercooler, like we are so pathetically desperate for some sense of social identity that we need to rely on Big Brother to feel whole.
I’ve been explaining that this isn’t what happens when I catch up with my friends for coffee. Our conversations go more like this:
"Hey have you seen that clip from The Daily Show where Sam Jackson was talking about why he made Snakes On A Plane?"
"No, I haven’t. Shoot me the link!"
"Yeah I will."
or
"Hey have you seen the Urban Ninja videos on YouTube? This crazy kid who can seriously run up a wall?"
"No, getthefeckouttahere. Shoot me the link!"
"Yeah totally."
or
"Hey have you heard that new podsafe track that James Brown put up on PMN?"
"No way dude! James muthafucking Brown??? SHOOT ME THE LINK!"
"Ow! I feel good!"
Now that even my 59 year old mum, born and bred and still living in Bundaberg (rural Queensland, about as far behind the modern world as you can get without going to Uganda… I think even Bono is petitioning the IMF for debt relief and cheap AIDS vaccines for Bundaberg), is flicking me the coolest Google Video links, I think we can safely say the era of "one-size-fits-all" media is coming to a close.
Today I attended the PANPA (Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers’ Association) conference where I spoke on a panel with Mark Jones and Hugh Martin about blogging and podcasting.
The most surprising thing about the day was that most of the sessions I sat in had the same message from a variety of speakers: the media business is changing fast, hold on to your hats. For once I wasn’t the only guy pushing that barrow. It kind of threw me – what’s my value if I’m not the crazy futurist guy?
Still, I think I managed to ruffle some feathers during our panel, so my role is still safe for a while yet.
Here’s my raw notes from the day’s sessions.
Robert Whitehead, President, PANPA
State of the industry address:
"the future for newspapers is only
bleak if we fail to respond"
"media is diversiying at an
enormous rate and adveritisng spend
is fragmenting"
"failing to respond to disruptive
change… we no longer fear change"
newspaper media… reflects all the
things we do… competing for the
quick consumer fix for news updates
that used to be the mainstay of
radio… online sites focusing on
consumer participation…
Alexander Downer, Foreign Minister:
one of the good things about being
a politician and mixing with the
media is that you know you are
mixing with a profession that is
held in as low a regard as yours is
by the general population.
…blah blah blah "national
values"”…. blah blah blah
"national identity"…
it is sometimes claimed that no two
democracies have gone to war with
each other, i don’t know if its
true but it is almost true
re islamic values…
in the 1990s we heard a lot about
"asian values". we don’t hear much
about that any more. asia is an
increasing democratic place. with a
few very notable exceptions.
(Cameron aside: values values values… i always
worry when I hear pollies and
corporate execs talk about values.
What are ‘australian values’
exactly?)
making lots of complaints about the
quality and accuracy of the
reporting coming out of the middle
east… claiming that reports about
lebanese civilian deaths are
distorted by the media and that it
is suffering a credibility gap in
the minds of the populace.
Seems to think it is only the
government that can distort the
story to suit its needs.
rights and responsibilities…
every newspaper has the right to
publish the cartoons (danish
islamic cartoons) but they need to
think through the consequences.
main point –
the values that underpin the free
press also underpin our wider
foreign policy.
For all the negative reports that
have come out of australia over my
time, I think the Hanson is the
worst.
David Kirk, CEO, Fairfax:
changing its name… fairfax media
instead of john fairfax holdings…
its an important statement of where
the company if heading. how we
conceive of our company and our
mission in the 21st century. what
these mean in a world of
convergence driven by the internet.
online #1 news position in
australia and #2 in classifieds.
best known online service
stuff.co.nz. Websites 3.5million
uniques every month. Trademe has
1.6 million users.
32.8 million blogs as of last week.
Wikipedia stats…
world will take 100billion
photographs
amazon has 2.3 million books…
two laws:
media is always changing
audiences are always fragmenting
always been that way, but happening
faster
miles davis "if you arent nervous,
you arent paying attention"
history of our industry is always
about threat and adaptation
more people reading our content in
print and online than ever before
in our history
television more under threat
FTA TV in oz lost 11% of its
audience
paper audience is stable in total
readership
I spend the vast majority of my
time on these changes.
managing change…
having the right people with the
right skills in the right place at
the right time and resources to
deliver…
the strategy for fairfax
3 priorities
1. defend and grow the newspapers
2. build strong online businesses
3. become a genuinely integrated
digital media company
broadband a key factor for growth,
intend FF to be a key provider of
content over broadband.
robert cauthorn CEO CityTools:
cauthorn@citytools.com
the "we talk, you listen" model is
dying
Rebecca Huntley, Gen Y author:
brand disloyal
technology is a necessity in their
lives, not a luxury
value change and diversity
the mobile phone is the icon of
this generation, understand the
role it plays in their lives, its
far more than that, its a personal
accessory, entertainment, its all
invested in the phone, like a part
of their body, if they left it at
home its like someone cut their
hand off, *audience sniggered*,
not merely about being able to
download stuff off the net,
technology has changed this
generations attitude towards time
and space. The first generation to
see itself as truly global. Sharing
a global youth culture. Don’t see
it as American, just see it as
their culture. Don’t engage in
national politics. Don’t believe
the future of the world happens in
Canberra. More interested in global
events, international concerns,
truly active though at the local
level.
Gen Y are a reaction to Gen X.
Conventional approach to life, have
learned from Gen X not to leave
marriage and children too late.
Want to be self-employed so they
have more work/life balance.
Jim Chisholm, iMedia:
imediaadvisory.com
by 2015
between 25% – 70% of print will
have moved to online
all this content is free
interest in news media will have
dropped for a third
over 180 free dailies worldwide
20% of all circulation in Europe
are now from free titles
which of you would pay to watch the
news on TV every night? nobody put
up their hand. yet people pay for
the newspaper. why?
in many european countries, free
dailes are the #1 circulation
the "one version" newspaper idea is
dead – mercedes gives its cutomers
choice, why don’t newspapers?
Aus/NZ lead the world for internet
penetration in classified
advertising.
Steve James from Commercial Radio
Australia told them that radio
growth was going to be strong.
Whaaat??? ROFL!
Today’s show is all about CANNABILISM.
Sorry about the terrible audio and video quality. Lots of technical glitches. I’m still experimenting. I’ll work it out. Anyone know a good Windows tool for batch converting an .avi into .flv and H264?
There’s won’t be a DV edition on 28 August as I’ll be interstate at the PANPA conference. But I’ll shoot some stuff up there and use it on the 29th!