Media Transitions

Thursday’s panel discussion on the transition in media featured three journalists who shared their comments and experiences in the field. Among them were Dave Doolittle and Rob Quigley who work for the Austin-American Statesman and Elise Hu, a writer for the Texas Tribune.

The discussion opened with the speaker asking the audience, “Will newspapers survive?” The answer was not too surprising for many who are expecting the papers to die once new media takes over. Quigley thinks that in about fifteen years, it is unsure to know if papers will still be around; this is due to a couple reasons. Media has encountered serious changes just in the past five years. A move to a more open media where anyone, anywhere can report and respond has made possible the idea that anyone can be a reporter. The second reason is that television stations are falling behind because of a decline in advertising revenue over the past few years. Advertisers are finding other ways to promote their products and services, including Internet advertisements, emails, and even text messages. With many of these possibilities at such a low cost, advertisers are straying away from the pricey television commercials they once could not survive without.

To combat these changes, journalists are trying to provide not just more content, but a higher quality content that the majority of people would not have access to find on their own. Journalists are agreeing the aggregation of media is the best way to make a high number of resources available at once.

Tweeting is one way that allows reporters to be more personal by creating an interaction that was not previously there, said Lisa Lu. Lu also said when people feel they are being listened to and answered, they feel more engaged in the story.

News outlets, such as the Austin-American Statesman, are considering new ways to attract people and gain revenue. The pay-wall idea is thought to be a new source of income. By charging Internet viewers a one time fee to gain access to more content online, news outlets can basically charge people for reading the newspaper online, instead of the old way of charging them for reading it on paper. Advertising through Twitter has already proved a success, and will be the starting point for many media businesses to spread information.