[opendtv] News: AP Chief: Future Of News Is Online
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2004 08:11:25 -0500
Via Shoptalk...
Kon and others have been asking what kind of content would people
want to watch on a cell phone or other types of mobile media
appliances. Here is one possibility...
AP Chief: Future Of News Is Online
Internet Is Picking Up Audience That TV And Newspapers Are Losing
http://www.cbsnewyork.com
The future of news is online, and traditional media outlets must
learn to tailor their products for consumers who demand instant,
personalized information, the head of The Associated Press said
Friday.
The growth of high-speed broadband connections is leading to a future
in which computers are always on "and so are the users," Tom Curley,
president and chief executive officer of the world's largest news
organization, told the Online News Association conference in Hollywood
The Internet is picking up the readers and viewers that newspapers
and TV news shows have been losing, Curley said. It also has changed
the balance of power from news providers to consumers, who use
Web-surfing programs and video recording devices to control what they
want to know and when and where they'll learn it.
Curley, who was publisher of Gannett Co.'s USA Today newspaper before
becoming the AP's top executive in 2003, offered a scenario in which
a "news enthusiast" would download to various electronic devices an
array of news - sports scores, headlines, financial reports and
analysis - from a variety of sources.
In the world of personalized news, "the content comes to you; you
don't have to come to the content," Curley said. "So, get ready for
everything to be 'Googled,' 'deep-linked' or 'Tivo-ized.'"
"You have to let the content flow where the users want to go, and
attach your brand - and maybe advertising and e-commerce - to those
free-flowing 'atoms,'" Curley said.
That already is leading to changes in how news is covered. For
example, Curley said AP is furnishing U.S. bureaus with cameras to
provide video for multimedia use and is increasing coverage of news
of interest to young audiences.
News media also may need to consider nontraditional services for the
Internet. Curley noted one site in Kansas already offers a Web cam
service local college students can use to see how long the lines are
at a pizza parlor.
More media companies will have to learn how to make their Web
operations profitable when many consumers are used to getting their
news for free, he said. The market is out there, Curley said, citing
a recent study that found 29 percent of Internet users - about 43
million people - go online to get news three or more times per week.
Stephanie Busack, 22, a journalism student at Ohio University who
attended the conference, said she gets most of her news online.
"I just go to the Web sites, basically ... it's right there,
everything you need to know," she said. "I don't like reading
newspapers."
Curley also touched on Internet users who disseminate news and ideas
through Web logs, citing one recent estimate that there are 4 million
"bloggers" making 400,000 posts per day.
"That works out to roughly 16,000 posts an hour, or about as many
stories as the AP sends out in an entire day," he said. "It will get
even tougher to be heard above the roar of the Internet crowd, and
the business bets will have to be for greater stakes."
Still, Curley predicted current news giants will survive.
"The bloggers need a baseline of facts and professional analysis on
which to base their work," he said. "Imagine Drudge without somebody
to link to, or Wonkette without somebody to poke fun at. It's a new
community that's forming in the news and information space. The
"neighbors" may not all like each other, but we're all part of the
same network, like it or not."
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