DISQUS

NancyScott · 5 months ago

A poignant post, Louis.. and my answer is yes -- Yes, I really did *not* want the old media to fail and, yes, I'm glad they did. Look, I've got a love/hate relationship with the old media and it hasn't gotten any less complicated since 9/11. Meanwhile, I'm both excited and horrified by citizen journalism. I don't know what I want, true. But whatever it is, I do know that I want ALL of it ... and I want it NOW!

Louis Gray · 5 months ago

Nancy, I think it's hard to take a stand and say you want something to fall apart. It would be ideal if media like the New York Times and CNN were embedded in all locations providing live updates. I see Twitter and other networks as filling in the cracks where the old media can't be there instantly. But I am concerned that if enough people turn away from these publications, there won't be a real substitute capable of covering it, finding the players and reasons behind the events that are important to us all.

jptrenn · 5 months ago

I want traditional media to succeed. They have their problems for sure. The New York Times is often arrogant. But many reporters remain very close the inside information and can provide background info that often bloggers can't. Plus, many bloggers write from a certain angle.

That's not knocking blogger or twitterers. In fact, that's how I came to this post.

The argument you pose above is legitimate because it exists. But the reality is that both types of reporting have their place and are worthy of respect.

Keva Silversmith · 5 months ago

I don't think that refusing to consume old media on the one hand, and at the same time holding the old media accountable for being slow on newsworthy events - is hypocritical. The decision by millions of news consumers to find other sources of news is in fact the traditional way that consumers hold businesses accountable - they vote with their feet. If old media improved their product - timely, balanced, high quality reporting - they could boost their market share.

Louis Gray · 5 months ago

And this is why I asked. The assumption is that if the old media, including CNN, was doing a better job, we would watch them. But I think some want so badly for the new way to overtake the old way that they are eager to make the situation look worse.

Tweet Feeds · 5 months ago

I am happy that they were not there last week for the Iran conflict this week because they are now Journalists any more. What i would like them to do is stop calling themselves news services. Journalists working for CNN are not Journalists because Journalism is the production of news reports and editorials through media.

holdenpage · 5 months ago

I do not want old media to fail in the least bit. Citizen Journalism will never be a viable alternative to sources such as CNN, Fox, CBS or MSNBC. Services such as Twitter, FF, Facebook, Plurk or whatever else are simply the "pulse" of the web. That is it, the pulse. Not the facts and not the "true" story. Old media, while it will falter, still needs to be around to make sense of the pulse. To get the facts straight and to report the true stuff.

There have been to many times that Twitter + other services that allow people to post any news they want and it turned out to be untrue. Sorry, CNN messed up, yes, But i'll be damned if I trust that random tweeter over a CNN report.

John E. Bredehoft (Empoprises) · 5 months ago

The real danger isn't in people dancing on the grave of old media, or ridiculing the mistakes of new media. The real danger is in taking a single example and extrapolating it to assume that Twitter is always better than CNN; at times it isn't.

Teri_PDP · 5 months ago

It's so interesting. What I like about TIME's ME Richard Stengel is that he has a point of view on this - he wants to deliver the value of knowledge and wisdom vs. straight reportage. Of course it's not so easy for the dailies - and the electronic media simply isn't used to thinking this hard about strategic issues like value proposition - I dare you to find someone on CNN who can adddress what they're trying to do beyond react. Thanks for the food for thought.

Phoebe_b · 5 months ago

I don't think anyone benefits from old media failing. They are giving us quality content (mostly) that is valuable and can't be found elsewhere. If they can't figure out how to continue to effectively make money from content, I don't see that new media is necessarily in a better position.

Teeg · 5 months ago

I don't want to see old media fail, but I also don't want to see them keep going like they are now.

Before CNN, I don't remember ever expecting a news show to bring me up to the minute news constantly.

What I did expect was people who recognized something newsworthy, and were willing to go whatever lengths to share it whether it was researching an article and putting the pieces together that no one else had connected yet or going behind the scenes to show us the true face of humanity in it's most beautiful and most horrifying moments.

Lately, it feels like traditional news has gotten so caught up in trying to bring news "as it happens" that they've forgotten what their strengths really are.

Am I happy that CNN failed? Only if they use the failure to make some changes, and not to decide they now have to compete with twitter users to see who can announce news first.

Ken Gillgren · 5 months ago

Guess it's not so much wanting anything or anyone to fail; but our expectations have certainly been raised across the board, from timeliness, quality, transparency, and multiple contexts to perhaps newer dimensions, like sense of direct connection to "on-the-ground" sources as well as a more flexible and interactive cross-referencing--both formal and informal. Who we choose to "listen" to, how we choose to monitor breaking news and trends, with full consciousness of the relative strengths and weaknesses of different channels and sources--has all become very lively and conscious. Insofar as "traditional" media contribute to this mix through direct reporting or insightful analysis--fantastic. Insofar as it does not--..., hmm, there is no future for it if it does not.