On a personal note in part two of The Future of Journalism.
I’ve been around the newspaper business since my first job at the age of 16 was as a copy kid ripping stories off teletype machines and rushing them to the copy desk. Reporters back then grumbled about only having two weeks to work on a story. Today, well, it’s all changed.
And that’s because the business model is changing.
I remember asking a friend who served on the board of a major media conglomerate that had just voted to buy another major newspaper chain: What impact will Craiglist have on classified revenues?
“What’s Craigslist?” asked the media titan. The year was 2006.
I’m more curious than I am smart. But my fascination with technology began in 1992 when I first signed onto Prodigy, America Online, and CompuServe all in the same week. Think back to 1992. Bill Clinton was running for president of the U.S., and Boris Yelstin was president of Russia. THAT’S how long ago 1992 was.
I was dazzled. It was magical. I knew it would change the communication business, and I wanted to be a part of the change. I marched into the office of a local publisher, and he rolled his eyes when I told him we could maintain state-wide content and outlined a few possibilities as to how.
He didn’t own a computer.
He was dismissive; every few years, something comes along that people say will put newspapers out of business, but “we’re not going anywhere.”
That’s how long ago 1992 was.
A local software company gave me a six-month runway to figure it out. I had the part-time assistance of a Drake intern who created the best doggone searchable calendar I’ve ever seen. A user could search by genre, location, cost, and date. The calendar information would be entered by someone from the venue, the artist, or the event manager. Think Yelp before Yelp. He used Microsoft’s Frontpage software for the main site, and together we created central Iowa’s first news and information website.
May I remind you, that was in 1992?!
A similar searchable database would be created for obituaries with data entered by the local funeral home. The listing would be free, but the cause of death had to be listed. If the family wanted a larger story, there would be a per line charge, but it had to be in addition to the free entry that included cause-of-death. This was the concept. We ran out of money before we could get it activated. I wish someone would do this!
And I had interactive forums. A psychologist monitored a forum that was like a call-in radio show and therapy sessions only online. The psychologist monitored the discussion so they could delete off-topic remarks. There were other forums, but I don’t remember them now. These interactive forums were a good idea. And still ARE! Just put in guidelines about civility, have a system operator, and ban those who violate the rules.
The main page consisted of mostly press release copy, but the plan was for the content to evolve as we got up and running.
What I didn’t know then that I do know now is if you build it, they will come, BUT it might take longer, a whole lot longer, for the money to follow.
Ah, to be a few years younger and several decimal points wealthier, I'd love to be a part of creating the future of journalism in Iowa. I’d swoop up everyone who appeared on our panel and then some, double their salaries. We’d all start paddling in the same direction: serving a local community with local content and facilitating conversations about all aspects of life. It would be funded privately, publicly, with a tiered subscription level and include comprehensive coverage of local government - to hell with the number of clicks a story receives.
And we’d revive those interactive forums, searchable calendar, and obit database, by golly.
But, I’m not smart or rich enough to figure out the future of journalism. I sure admire those who are in the trenches every day, committed to figuring it out.
In the meantime, subscribe to The Des Moines Register, The Carroll Times Herald, Iowa Capital Dispatch, Bleeding Heartland, and support the Western Iowa Journalism Foundation. The Des Moines Business Record is another resource for business news and features about local leaders. Watch for a story there about the future of journalism coming soon.