News……Real Time!!!!

A while back I wrote a post questioning the future of printed newspapers.  If you missed it, you can check it out HERE.  This is a follow up on that article.  The news, or more exactly, the way we get our news is fast changing.  Take for example the riots during the recent elections in Iran.  News reporters where banned, and forced to leave.  The internet was almost completely shut down, no email, no text messaging, or instant messaging.  This left everyone with a dilemma.  Especially people living in other countries who had family or friends living in Iran and were concerned for their safety.  Without the ability for reporters to do their thing, it was next to impossible to get any information regarding the situation out of the country.  However, there were a few media venues that the ability of the Iranian Government to shut down were hampered.  In comes Twitter.  During the riots, logging in to Twitter and doing a search for Iranian Elections resulted in Tweets that were both graphic and informational about what was actually occurring at any given moment.  Cell phones taking video provided scenes of revolt and, in some instances, extreme violence.  Is this something that traditional news reporting could have done…..No, as there were no reporters allowed.  This was all sent from ordinary people doing amateur video and reporting, but it got the word out.  Traditional news broadcasts, like CNN, were using these images and reports as they were not able to get the information from their own teams.

Now that being said, I see a change, that I did not even foresee when I initially posted predicting the demise of the printed news media.  Broadcast news, such as CNN, and Fox News are not going to keep up with this real time news, like we saw in Iran using Tweets, and videos made using cell phones. This sort of thing is happening all the time.  People using the internet is informing the masses faster than any broadcast news source or, especially, any printed news source. Breaking news is taking on a completely new meaning.  Now is this a good thing?  Well, first off, it provides real time information from a lot of different people and from many different locales.  More than any news team could ever cover.  What it does not provide is any kind of analysis as to what all the information means.  No experts providing their opinions……just real time information.  The media needs to make sure that they look at this carefully, as they do have this advantage.  People on the scene cannot analyze what the meaning of a particular event means, in the big picture.  They can only report what is actually occurring at the moment.  The good thing about this is that the broadcast news organizations seem to be grasping this and doing what they do best.  During the Iranian crisis, they took the video that was coming in and the news that was being sent, via Tweets, on Twitter and doing an analysis of the crisis.  Giving the viewers the best of both world, live information and a view from experts as to what it all means.

This is the future of media.  Printed news cannot keep up with this, they are always a day behind.  I know many of us like to read the news, but in order to get real time information, it may take the combination of “on the scene people” coupled with the analytical ability of broadcast media.  I think this is a great combination.  I hate to say it, but printed news is going to fast become a thing of the past.  Any news delivered by printed sources is going to have to be done via the internet.  Printing physical papers and magazines are too slow.  Current news used to be “What Happened Yesterday”, it is not that way anymore, thanks to the internet, current news means “What Is Happening At This Very Moment”.

What is your take on all this.  I think everyone would like to know how you get your media news delivered to you.  Take a minute and do the following poll and let us know what you think and how you are adjusting to this.  Personally, I found the Twitter feeds coupled with CNN’s analysis more interesting and informative than anything I had been exposed too in the past.  Let me know what you think!!!!

Your Comments are always welcome whether you agree or not.

Take the Poll below…….

Wicked Cool Site #7

For all you animal lovers out there!!!  This is a live web cam that focuses on a Bald Eagle’s nest in Oklahoma.  I know there are a lot of these live cams out there, but this one actually works.  This pair of eagles had been nesting in a nearby tree for a long time, but last year the tree fell down.  Well, thanks to a lot of donations, the Sutton Center spearheaded the undertaking to build a suitable nesting site for the eagles.  A pole with a series of “fingers” was erected and, low and behold, the eagles took right to it and built another aerie in the “artificial tree”.  As of this writing, one eaglet has hatched and there are more eggs in the waiting.  It is very interesting to watch Mom and Dad trade places in the aerie watching over their brood, and bringing back sustenance from hunting expeditions.  I have witnessed them bring back large fish, and even another bird once.  This is really a Wicked Cool Site and I am waiting with baited breath to see if the other eggs hatch.

Click HERE to watch the Live Eagle Cam…..

Once the site opens, you need to scroll down a short distance to view the cam.  It may take a little bit for the viewing window to connect, so be patient.  One more thing, the cam is only available during daylight hours.

Enjoy!!!

Where’s The Paper????

Sunday morning, you wake up, make a cup of coffee, grab the newspaper off the front porch and sit down and browse the paper.  This has been part of our way for as long as I can remember.   Well, how does this sound?……Wake up, make the coffee, and then open up your laptop, or turn on your Smart Phone, and get your newspaper subscription on line.   How does that sound?  Well, hopefully it does not sound that bad to you as this is where we are going.  Printed newspapers are going to fast become a thing of the past.  Rising costs of paper, ink, printing, marketing, and transportation coupled with the fall in newspaper advertising, including Want Ads is forcing many newspapers to either close their doors, or resort to online subscriptions.  Papers like the Rocky Mountain News, one of Denver’s two newspaper publications printed their last edition a couple of weeks ago.  Other major newspapers like the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Seattle Times are also facing a losing proposition.  In fact the San Francisco Chronicle posted a $50 million loss last year.  It is estimated that it costs the New York Times almost $600 million dollars per year just to print their daily editions.  With approximately 800,000 subcribers, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that this is not very lucrative.  And this is not a localized problem, but is a reality for most major publications in the U.S., including magazines, and books. But what is causing the demise of the printed publication?  Well, the short of it is the Internet.  Because of sites such as CraigsList, advertising income to newspapers has fallen off substantially, thus creating an income deficit.  Digital books and audible books, are fast becoming the rage, thus hurting publishing companies.   With the addition of high quality book readers, such as Amazon’s Kindle ($359.00), and aps for smart phones such as the iPhone, which enable subcribers to download (in seconds) exact copies of books, newspapers, and magazines, who would have the need for suffering through the “black finger” syndrome caused by browsing printed versions?

As for me, I think it is a good thing, I would much rather receive RSS feeds, or browse the New York Times website to get my news, and digital & audio books are also very appealing.  Why would I want to go to a bookstore, and buy a book when I can download one, in many cases cheaper than the printer versions, with a couple of clicks on the keyboard.  I can literally have hundreds-of-thousands of publications at my finger tips. I can have the New York Times delivered to my computer everyday, and do not have to worry about soggy papers, non-deliveries, or missing pages.  It will simply work.

Now there are other pros and cons that need to be looked at here.  What will happen to the little local news publications?  What about the jobs that will be lost due to the digital publications?  These are potentially both downsides and serious ones at that.  However, let’s think “Green” and save a few trees, actually a few million of them, this is a positive.  Not to mention the cost reduction, and convenience of receiving these printings digitally.

Now I specifically mentioned Craig’s List earlier in a negative way……this was unfair.  Who has not used Craig’s List?  What a great way to advertise, search for employment, sell items that are of no use to you anymore…..the possibilities on this site are endless.  Job hunting is done mostly over the internet.  Mass posting of job resume’s is common place in today’s day and age.  No more going from business to business and dropping off printed versions, by hand.  Employers have also bit on the digital solution to finding employees.  I don’t know of any business who, may still collect paper printed job applications, but does not also look on the internet for potential applicants.  The WWW just opens up so many doors on both ends of the stick.

What are your thoughts on this?  Is the printed newspaper doomed? Is all this for the better or for the worse?

Hit Me!!!!