Over
the years, I have set up a lot of bookmarks for different media
sites. Some of them are an online only type of thing, while others
are web site representatives of efforts such as television news
stations and newspapers.
They
reflect a wide range of sources for news and information. Some
of them are national and international. I also have a couple representing
every U.S. state.
Why
do I have them? A pretty wide range of reasons.
In
some cases, they involve places where I live, family members live,
or friends live. I like to keep up on local events that involve
me, those I care about, and may be likely to hear in some conversation.
A
few are places where I’ve traveled or plan to be traveling.
Many
are just because I like the news. Local and regional and national
and international news. Sports and celebrities. Fact and the occasional
bit of gossip.
Every
so often, I make a run down the full list of bookmarks. It’s an
attempt to catch up on things during those times. And it’s more
than that. I’m also trying to see how some stories are consistent
in different locations, along with the times the same story is
told different ways. And I’m looking for those unique stories,
many involving issues that someone hundreds of miles away from
the place might never normally see.
The
results of those swings through the sites are kind of funny (and
quite revealing).
One
thing you get to immediately notice is how many sites are formatted
in the same way. And by formatted, I mean everything. The popup
ads that greet you on the home page. The layout and design.
The
days of independent media are rapidly dwindling. These are news
sites that are owned by the same parent companies. And while you’re
looking for smalltown views and stories from Nebraska and Vermont
and Minnesota and more, you’re getting a lot of operational and
content decisions made in a single big city that might be separated
by hundreds of miles from the towns and villages they report on.
Next
up is what we might consider as syndicated content. They may or
may not be truly syndicated, but you’re going to see the exact
same story in multiple places. Two things coming from this: (1)
Fewer opposing viewpoints, since you’re reading the same stories
by the same writers and same editors over and over. And, (2) it’s
filler material, so you’re getting less unique and specialized
information from a local source and more generic content from
a national stage.
It
gets a bit worse.
Almost
every page brings up a special offer for you to get exclusive
content from a subscription. And, well…
It’s
understandable. Traditional sales of newspapers are virtually
nonexistent. Newspapers, television and radio are scrambling every
day to reinvent the business model and try to raise funds. Community
service material that used to be offered for free, wedding announcements
as one example, are now done with fees attached. Archived material,
and offerings such as popular columnists, have the majority of
their content placed behind pay walls.
At
perhaps the most fundamental level, you can’t blame a business
for trying to stay in business.
One
difficulty is that in sweeping generalized terms almost everything
is available for free. In fact, we’ve been trained by increasingly
easy to access content to be able to find things quickly, with
no wait and no cost. We get text alerts as soon as news stories
are released. We can watch live broadcasts on our phones. Waiting
for the evening edition of the paper or the evening news is not
the daily habit it once was.
A
side story on that free idea, which hits newspapers especially
hard, is that people are moving away from physical reads. Books
are one thing. The outdated in so many ways by the time it arrives
newspaper is another thing entirely.
The
media is trying to remain relevant in a world that is seeing expanded
options and increasingly shortened attention spans. And the changes
that get made matter tremendously when it comes to the content
that’s presented.
It
does make me sad. Some of the best reporters, and some of the
best reporting, I have ever enjoyed was done at the local level.
Some of the most interesting content I’ve loved over the years
came from syndicated columnists that still managed to offer a
bit of a local-edge in their work.
Local
news matters. Local media matters. It’s easily more important
than ever. Which is the main reason it’s so hard to see it struggling.
It’s
not an easy path to navigate. But if you’re going along for the
journey, you really should pay attention to the surroundings.
You never know when your opinions and thoughts will be tested
by the bread crumb trail you left to find your way out. And when
those tests do arrive, you’ll be glad to have the assistance of
someone familiar with the path.