Invasion of the Youngsters

Not sure if you've heard but the industry is being invaded by Mellenials! They're stealing your media jobs! Run save your self.

Oh brother. Journalism is not dead. Media is finally making the great transition to the internet. Brace yourself the entire business model is about to shift and it takes Millennials, or the little aunts that could, to drive it there. Rather than content (or news) being generated for traditional formats (tv, radio, print) and then re-purposed for the internet -- Listen: consumers drive content - and if they get most of their information from the internet FIRST - content NEEDS to be generated for the web FIRST, then re-purposed for traditional formats.

The people who are doing it well? Millennials.

Read this article. It's a little old (1997) but it still holds water.

Invasion of the Web Amateurs

By Steven Levy | Newsweek Web Exclusive

Andrew keen is not surprised at the latest twist in the ongoing saga of Wikipedia. In his view, the entire Internet movement involving "collective intelligence," "citizen journalism" and "the wisdom of crowds" is a cultural meltdown, an instance of barbarians at civilization's gates. He considers Wikipedia, the popular Internet-based encyclopedia written and vetted by anyone who cares to contribute, as no more reliable than the output of a million monkeys banging away at their typewriters, and says as much in his upcoming poison-pen letter to Web 2.0, "The Cult of the Amateur" (due from Currency/Doubleday in June).

So imagine Keen's delight in learning about an adjustment to last summer's New Yorker article about Wikipedia. The article's author prominently cited a person identified as "Essjay," described as "a tenured professor of religion ... who holds a Phd in theology and a degree in canon law." Essjay had contributed to more than 16,000 Wikipedia entries, and often invoked his credentials to argue for changes in various articles. But as The New Yorker abashedly informed its readers some months after the story appeared, Essjay was not a religion professor but a 24-year-old college dropout. What's more, Wikipedia's cofounder Jimmy Wales said, "I don't really have a problem with it." (Wales subsequently recognized that fraudulent misrepresentation is not a great idea, and removed Essjay from his position of trust at Wikipedia.)

The Essjay incident fits Keen's critique of the democratization of the digital world so neatly that "he could have been invented by me," says the former entrepreneur turned polemicist. In Keen's view, sites like Wikipedia, along with blogs, YouTube and iTunes, are rapidly eroding our legacy of expert guidance in favor of a "dictatorship of idiots." Reliable sources of information (like Encyclopaedia Britannica, your local newspaper and even your beloved NEWSWEEKly magazine) are under siege from an explosion of self-appointed writers, broadcasters and filmmakers whose collective output, charges Keen, is garbage. What's more, he notes, in the war for eyeballs and ad revenues, the amateurs are winning.

Some of Keen's points are well taken: I certainly agree that the survival of professional journalists is essential, both to society and to my mortgage payments. But much of his argument seems to blame the Internet for allowing freedom to flourish. Just as the printing press was disruptive in its time, the ubiquity of the Net and the cheap tools that give voice to anyone—whether talented or not—has kicked off a period of creative ferment. The optimists among us believe that the cream will rise to the top; Keen speaks for the pessimists who believe that the bloviators will drive out the investigative journalists, craigslist will shoot down the newspapers and an army of half-witted YouTubers may block the ascent of the next Alfred Hitchcock.
I disagree. If we are to lose the beneficial halo generated by professionals, experts and geniuses, it won't be because of ankle-biting bloggers, callow Wikipedia authors and mediocre folk singers riding the long tail. It will be because the audience at large thinks that the truly good stuff isn't worth paying for. If all goes well, new business models will make it easier for excellence to be rewarded. In any case, we will ultimately get the media that we deserve.

In the meantime, what's the problem in helping millions to reach potentially huge audiences via low-cost or no-cost Internet outlets? Even Andrew Keen, avowed foe of citizen journalism, has a blog and a podcast. And guess what? Taking on the rabble won't hurt his Google ratings.

Attention Class!

This was sent to my by my mentor from the Wall Street Journal and I thought it was extremely helpful.

How to Be a Smart Protégé
Eight tips for setting up a network of mentors
By DAWN E. CHANDLER, DOUGLAS T. HALL and KATHY E. KRAM

It's not easy to be a protégé these days.

Everybody knows the setup of the classic mentoring relationship: Older workers take junior colleagues under their wing and stay in their lives for years, giving them one-on-one advice and shepherding them through their careers. Nowadays, though, seasoned workers rarely stay in a job long enough to stick close to a protégé for any length of time. And they're often too harried managing their own careers to devote lots of attention to somebody else's.

Last year in these pages, Kathy E. Kram and Monica C. Higgins proposed a different model—the developmental network. Instead of looking to one person as a guide, a would-be protégé should build up a team of mentors drawn from all areas of his or her professional and personal lives. That way, you don't have to rely too heavily on one person to give you all the guidance you need. And you get a broader range of advice and information.

But there's a snag: Most people aren't very good at creating and maintaining these networks. Obviously, it takes a lot more effort to track down a team of helpers than a single mentor. But it also takes a special blend of skills and strategy to find just the right people and cultivate rewarding relationships with them.

To find out the best way to approach the task, we looked for people who are "relationally savvy"—in other words, they have demonstrated a knack for building networks. We interviewed a number of these talented protégés, as well as their mentors and three career coaches, to figure out what makes them tick—the abilities they bring to the table and the approaches they use to keep people on their side.

Here's a look at how Savvys make networking work for them.
1. Talk First—and Often.

Savvys aren't shy about initiating—and maintaining—contact with people who can support their development. They constantly ask for information, help, feedback and advice. As one Savvy puts it: "The way I see it, a lot of people are waiting to be invited for someone to tap them on the shoulder and then take them under their wing. In my experience, that just doesn't happen; you have to go after someone."

And they don't just talk to the peers and bosses they deal with every day, who have a vested interest in helping them along. They might talk to senior managers in other parts of the company, for instance, and ask to learn about their side of the operation. Savvys who are bosses might ask their subordinates for feedback on their management and leadership skills.

In their communities, meanwhile, Savvys often reach out to folks in volunteer and industry associations, as well as schools where they're getting graduate degrees.
2. Read Between the Lines.

Savvys are expert at recognizing when colleagues are interested in becoming mentors—even when the colleagues aren't being direct about it. Let's say a senior colleague asks a junior about the kinds of challenges he or she is facing. Most people might just think the older worker is being nice. A Savvy would see potential there and try to strike up a relationship.

One Savvy, for instance, realized she was getting signals from a senior co-worker while working on a project. The co-worker was giving cues that said, " 'I think you're a smart, interesting young woman and I'd like to mentor you,' or 'I think you're a smart woman. I want to be friends with you,' " the Savvy says. "It was an invitation to continue the relationship after the work had been finished. And I don't think that people think of it as an invitation, but you have to."
3. Go the Extra Mile.

Savvys put in lots of work at the start of a relationship with a mentor, to make sure that it gets off the ground. That might mean, for instance, being assertive about getting together outside of work so they can talk privately and informally. One Savvy who had just accepted a job happened to be near the office on a holiday. She decided to stop in and see if the woman who had hired her was around. As it turns out, the woman was at her desk—and was impressed with the new hire's initiative. The mentoring relationship began then and there.

Likewise, Savvys keep in frequent contact with their mentors—even if it's just to touch base. That helps keep the relationship strong.

As one Savvy describes her time with a mentor: "We had a standing [weekly] coffee chat, where we got together for half an hour to an hour. It was important to talk about the work, but it was more often just checking up on what we were doing…. I asked if we could do that because we didn't have any regular contact. I thought it would be helpful if we got together on a weekly basis just for checking in. She thought it was a great idea."
4. Do Your Homework.

Savvys always come prepared for meetings with a current or potential mentor. Let's say there's a particular challenge they want to discuss. They might research the topic thoroughly and come up with a bunch of different approaches for the mentor to review. This shows the mentor that the Savvy is competent and eager to meet challenges, and values their time together.

But the thoroughness doesn't end there. Savvys follow up with people who have counseled them, to let them know how their support helped and otherwise keep them up-to-date. Again, this shows the Savvy is eager to improve and values the wisdom the mentor brings to the table.

One mentor says of her Savvy protégé: "Unlike other relationships I've had, that one I thought really worked nicely because she took it very seriously and spent time thinking through what she wanted to cover…. Then, she would come back the next time and say, 'You know how we talked about this…. I did that. I talked to [so and so], and it actually worked out great. That was good advice, thank you. I learned something there.'"
5. Share Information.

Most people don't like talking about their problems and weaknesses—for perfectly understandable reasons. These can be sensitive areas, and people don't like to look weak in front of colleagues. Savvys, however, understand that deep relationships are based on openness, sharing and trust. When you share problems with people, they realize that you hold them in esteem and appreciate your confidence.

To be sure, that doesn't mean pouring out your deepest and darkest secrets to your mentors. Instead, what Savvys disclose are things like career failures that taught them a lesson, challenges that stood in the way of their success, disabilities that they have struggled with and conflicts with another person in the organization.
6. Make It Mutual.

Mentoring networks involve shared learning between two people. Too many people enter the relationships thinking of themselves as plebeian protégés who get support. Savvys, on the other hand, realize they have something to offer their mentors, too, and help them out whenever they can—which gives the other person a deeper vested interest in them.

One Savvy, a technology consultant, describes how she fostered relationships with three senior colleagues: "If I saw a senior consultant who was swamped with something, and I realized that I didn't necessarily have the computer intellect to be on his level there, but I could type really fast and I could be creative and design the presentation, and I could help with all the interviewing, I said as much to him. I said to him, 'Listen, I'd like to help you out if you'd like it.'"
7. Be Personable...

The final qualities Savvys offer are perhaps the most basic—but also the toughest to duplicate.

For one, they're simply easy to get along with. They have empathy, the ability to listen, strong conflict management and other social skills, which help them build rapport with others and manage disagreements. They leave people feeling positive toward them and eager to continue the relationship.

For instance, one colleague says of a Savvy: "He's an engaging guy, just a nice, delightful person to talk to." Contrast that with the reaction to someone who isn't so socially skilled: "When he is in a bad mood, we kind of tiptoe around him."
8. ...And Have a Positive Attitude.

Of course, not everybody has a strong, charismatic personality. And it can be tough to summon one up if it doesn't come naturally. But there are practical lessons you can take away from Savvys without having to become the life of the party.

You might try adopting the positive attitudes that Savvys bring to the table. For instance, simply assume that people around you want to lend a hand. Humility is all well and good, but you're going to hamper your ability to network if you keep thinking, "If I ask for help, I'm bothering people," or "I just don't want to be presumptuous and assume that somebody wants to help me."

Future of online news may be 'hyperlocal'

By John D. Sutter
CNN

(CNN) -- On a recent morning, when many newspapers and news sites were buzzing about swine flu, voiceofsandiego.org wrote instead about a local science professor and his quest to understand the beginning of the universe.
The swine flu story was nowhere to be found.
To some news junkies, it may seem like the nonprofit news site missed the big story of the day. But this intentional omission fits right in with the independent publication's values.
It also indicates what the future of local news may hold.
"We don't cover anything unless it's squarely about San Diego, even national trend stories and stuff like that, we tend to steer away from," said Andy Donohue, the outlet's editor.
"Especially the way things are going right now on the Internet, you've got to be really focused on doing something really well -- and if you try to spread yourself too thin, you're not doing anything well."
With many newspapers ailing, there's been a steady drumbeat of layoffs at major news organizations -- nearly 25,000 jobs have been lost at papers since 2008, according to Paper Cuts, a blog that tracks the layoffs.
But a relatively new crop of "hyperlocal" news sites is growing into the void left by failing news organizations. See how the Web is going "hyperlocal" »
Most of the hyperlocal sites focus exclusively on a community in a tight geographic area. Some are trying to find new ways to fund the news, since nearly all online information is free. They're also experimenting with unconventional ways of gathering the news: Several nonprofit news sites publish reports from volunteer reporters who are active in the neighborhoods they cover.
Other sites, such as EveryBlock.com, aggregate news on a block-by-block basis. EveryBlock.com pulls in government documents -- health inspections, building permits and crime reports -- as well as news articles and photos from sites such as Flickr to make news feeds with an extreme local focus.
And, with mixed success, some former newspaper reporters have banded together to create new, online publications. For example, some former employees of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which ceased print publication, formed the Seattle PostGlobe online.
Generally, the people who run hyperlocal Web sites say they are optimistic about the future of the news business. They say they won't be able to replace all that's being lost as large news companies crumble but say they are excited about the fact that they're able to offer something new -- at least for the moment.
It is crucial for people to try out new ways to tell and fund stories, said David Cohn, founder of Spot.Us, a San Francisco, California, site where visitors fund specific investigative story pitches.
"I am optimistic about the future of journalism provided that we have lots and lots of different startups," he said. "I think what journalism needs is 10,000 different startups." Read more about Spot.Us
Since 2004, when trouble in the news industry started to show, at least 800 community news Web sites have popped up, according to Jan Schaffer, executive director of J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism. The sites often do a better job at covering community news than large newspapers did, even before the papers started to collapse, she said.
Jane McDonnell, executive director of the Online News Association, said the hyperlocal movement places emphasis on community news that's written by volunteers who usually are entrenched in their neighborhoods.
The shift "means that there's less journalistic oversight over what is being disseminated and distributed and created," she said. "That raises all the natural questions about how valuable the news is going to be -- how credible it's going to be. I kind of think that argument is moot at this point because it's happening."
McDonnell said it's important for news consumers these days to be savvy so they can spot conflicts of interest and assess the reliability of what they're reading.
Some nonprofit news sites train their volunteers so they have a basic understanding of how to get the facts right and how to report fairly on controversial issues before they publish stories.
ChiTownDailyNews.org in Illinois employs four journalists but is in the process of training 350 neighborhood volunteers, said Geoff Dougherty, the publication's editor. Because they're embedded in the communities they write about, they find news the mainstream press would never hear about, he said. In one example, a volunteer reporter broke news of police brutality.
Mia Boyd, another volunteer for the site, said she found the training valuable. It will help her to analyze the west side of Chicago and the neighborhood of Hyde Park, where she plans to write about mental health and criminal justice issues.
Funding is a big question mark for the hyperlocal movement.
Writing in The Nation, John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney say these efforts are "mere triage strategies" that won't work in the long term.
"They are not cures; in fact, if there is a risk in them, it is that they might briefly discourage the needed reshaping of ownership models that are destined to fail," they write, advocating instead indirect government grants to fund the news.
Mainstream news organizations largely rely on advertising revenue. Hyperlocal sites tend to get a chunk of money from nonprofit organizations, some revenue from ads and some money from readers.
Others are trying entirely new approaches.
Spot.Us, for example, lets the public decide what stories are worth funding. The result is that paid journalists are more responsible to their audience, Cohn said.
Founders of hyperlocal sites say they're trying to serve a civic purpose.
"I think there is a bunch of media people going, 'Oh the world's collapsing.' And as much as that's true, [news is] not going to go away, it's just going to come into a new form," said Jason Barnett, executive director of TheUpTake.org, a site that largely covers Minnesota politics.

"There are more opportunities now for entrepreneurs to figure out a system. ... It's going to be tough but, in general, news is vital to our democracy. If it dies, so does the democracy."

Making the Jump

Sometimes I wonder if this ever works for anyone. I have now read two books of women who left (or were fired) and to blog and were published. I love blogging but wonder if this is the future of media or just a few cases of really talented and lucky peeps. 

Prince of Petworth to Blog Full-Time

from DCist by Sommer Mathis

We wanted to extend our hearty congratulations to Prince of Petworth, aka Dan Silverman, who announced on his site last night that he has quit his day job in order to devote himself full-time to neighborhood blogging. Dan's been talking about making this move for a long time, so it's great to hear that his dream is finally coming true. As a 2+ year veteran of the Guild of Professional Bloggers, I can tell you that Dan is about to join an elite group of individuals who find themselves spending a preposterously high percentage of their time searching for coffee shops with reliable wireless internet, and far less time worrying about showering or putting on pants. Way to live the dream, Dan!

Remote Tweets

From Marketing Daily………….

Verizon To Put Facebook, Twitter On Your TV

Coming soon to a television near you (if you're a Verizon FiOS subscriber, anyway): Facebook, Twitter and an App Store-like marketplace. "People of all ages and demographics are living their lives on social networks," Verizon representative Bobbi Henson tells Marketing Daily. "And the more they do that, the more they want to experience it wherever they are." Though still in a very basic stage, the service will allow people to view Facebook status updates and view friends' photo albums and pictures. Users will not immediately be able to update their status beyond having it reflect what program they're watching, but "it will evolve as we go along," Henson says. "People are very tethered to those services." With Twitter, users will be able to continue watching whatever program they were tuned to while also viewing tweets and other feeds applicable to the show (or participants in a sporting event, if such is the case). "It's really about bringing these Internet capabilities to the television, the biggest screen in their house," Henson says. The Facebook and Twitter access will come via widgets available through a new Widget Bazaar (as will an ESPN Fantasy Football widget) through the service's Interactive Media Guide. Through an open development platform, the company is hoping the Widget Bazaar will turn into an App Store-like marketplace where users can download free and transactional applications for their TVs. "Ultimately, when it gets up and running, it will have a broader range of applications that consumers can ad to their dashboard," Henson says. Later this summer, DVR users will also have access to an Internet Video feature allowing them to search and view user-generated videos from sites such as blip.tv, Dailymotion and Veoh. Henson wouldn't disclose marketing plans for these new services, but said it was likely there would be "some direct marketing and adding these features into advertising campaigns, just as we're doing now with other features."

Twit Is The New Black

It seems everyone is jumping on the Twitter bandwagon. Now some Pizza hut has created it's own internship position solely for the purpose of Twittering for the company. Just how do you describe that as a marketable skill on your resume?

From Marketing Daily…………..

Pizza Hut 'Twintern' to Guide Twitter Presence

 

Marketers struggling with the social media zeitgeist might be intrigued by a new idea from Pizza Hut. The QSR has announced that it's searching to fill a newly created intern position specifically dedicated to being the company's "voice" on Twitter and helping to guide its presence on other social media. The paid "twintern" job description from Pizza Hut states that the successful candidate will keep its Twitter followers posted on "great deals and menu items from Pizza Hut," as well as "keep a keen eye on pop culture news, off-the-wall stories or anything else quirky and fun that ... would be of interest to loyal Pizza Hut fans." The twintern will also monitor Twitter and alert the company to any negative buzz. In addition, the twintern will bring perspective to other social media such as Facebook (Pizza Hut has nearly a million fans on its page, which includes an ordering widget), and other digital initiatives such as total mobile access and e-gift cards. Aside from being Twitter-literate, applicants must be enrolled in college and willing to work in the chain's Dallas headquarters for the summer. The chosen one will also demonstrate creativity in the application. (Applications are being accepted on pizzahut.com.) "Forward-thinking brands are now on Twitter, whether it's a CEO tweeting on behalf of a company or a world-class athlete," summed up Pizza Hut chief people officer Amanda Fleming. "We are committed to making Pizza Hut a truly digital brand, where customers can connect with real team members from the company and participate in real, honest conversation. Twitter is another way for us to make that connection. It's important for us to be where our customers are, and right now that's social media platforms, such as Twitter." "The social media interns of today will be the CMOs of tomorrow, as social media becomes a fulcrum for communications strategies," predicts Reggie Bradford, CEO of social media services provider Vitrue, adding that if he were "20 again," he'd take the job even without pay. "Marketers are starting to realize that social media provides the opportunity to make the one-to-one connections that build trust and engagement," as well as "get ahead of the conversation" with a strategy that encourages key customer and employee advocates to "fight back" when virtual communications about a brand start to go sour, Bradford says. The need for strategy, he adds, is one lesson to be learned from the recent fallout experienced by Domino's after the stomach-churning video posted by two employees on YouTube. And while social media can clearly create negative brand impacts, they are also "the way to rebuild customer trust and brand image," Bradford says.

Time Inc.'s Mine Magazine is a Printed RSS Feed

Just another example of blogs becoming the norm, an industry standard even.

Time Inc.'s Mine Magazine is a Printed RSS Feed

BY Ariel SchwartzWed Mar 18, 2009 at 9:07 PM

The news just keeps getting more personal. Hyper-specialized blogs, RSS feeds, and personalized Google homepages let us focus on what we care about and tune out the rest. Thus far, personalized news has been limited to the Internet, but Time Inc. is bringing it to the printed word withmine, a five-issue, 10-week, experimental magazine that allows readers to select five Time Warner/American Express Co. magazines that Time editors will combine into a personalized magazine with 56 possible combinations. Essentially, mine is a printed, expanded RSS feed. Magazines available to the program include Time, Sports Illustrated, Food & Wine, Real Simple, Money, In Style, Golf, and Travel + Leisure.

Ads in the mine run will all be for the Lexus 2010 RX SUV--but with personalized messages for each subscriber targeting their interests.

mine's experimental run is free, with a 36-page print edition available to the first 31,000 respondents and an online version available to 200,000 others. The online edition may not be of much interest to readers skilled in the art of Internet news surfing, but mine's printed edition brings an interesting concept to the table: the minimalization of paper waste with personalized magazines and newspapers. Instead of subscribing to five magazines, why not just subscribe to one that has everything you want inside? And instead of subscribing to The New York Times, The Star Ledger, and your hometown newspaper, why not subscribe to a mash-up of all three?

The print media industry may be slowing down, but it isn't dead. Could personalized periodicals help magazines both adjust to the digital age and do right by the environment?

[Mine Via Chicago Tribune]