Tafuro Communications

This is a final follow up on my recent critique of newspapers and journalism. I hope my opinions on this subject have been valuable and constructive, as I truly value what good journalism provides for a free democracy.
In his closing remarks to the NAA, Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google expressed an exciting optimism for journalism that no longer seems present within the newspaper industry.

Beginning at 36:16 in the video (embedded below) he paraphrased Tocqueville’s America from 1831:

America will do well because of its sunny optimism, abundance of land and absence of a king.

He follows with his own interpretation applied to the current situation:

When I think today, I think same thing is still true; the political dynamic, the enormous resources that we have, the ingenuity of our people; the sum of all that I think creates a next set of opportunities.

For us to seize, for us to take, for us to build businesses on top of.

From my perspective we have to embrace what users want together, and by doing that I think we can win big.

Newspaper executives remind me a lot of the music industry, Netscape and Microsoft and run a great risk of being doomed not by Google, but instead by a new innovative idea for distributing quality journalism.

The following quote from Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington in 1787 is used by many newspapers as a shield of entitlement (or endowment if some get their way).

“The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

Based on some of the quotes below, my opinion is that Jefferson was not tied to the medium itself, and if he was alive today, might have replaced the word newspapers with the Internet in the above statement.

“Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day.” –Thomas Jefferson to John Norvell, 1807. ME 11:224

“As for what is not true, you will always find abundance in the newspapers.” –Thomas Jefferson to Barnabas Bidwell, 1806. ME 11:118

“From forty years’ experience of the wretched guess-work of the newspapers of what is not done in open daylight, and of their falsehood even as to that, I rarely think them worth reading, and almost never worth notice.” –Thomas Jefferson to James Monroe, 1816. ME 14:430

“Advertisements… contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper.” –Thomas Jefferson to Nathaniel Macon, 1819. ME 15:179

These statements illustrate Jefferson’s displeasure with the quality of journalism found in newspapers over just a short period of time in American History

What would his opinion be today?

What would Jefferson think of Schmidt’s comment about a next set of opportunities being created?

This is a follow up to Friday’s post and addresses the use of the Internet by newspapers and provides some opinions as to why that usage has not been financially successful.

Currently newspapers are using a “see what sticks” approach to social media and the Internet in general. Friday’s post on Twitter was just one example.

A recent article quoted Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google:

Schmidt commended newspapers for staking claim on the Internet in the 1990s but said there wasn’t a second act. He says news Web sites take too long to read, even slower than flipping through a newspaper or magazine, a shortcoming that can be addressed by improving technology.

Consider now the constantly changing format and out of date stories on the websites of Tampa Bay’s dailies and you can see how some basic problems make the above statement true.

St Petersburg Times

A screen shot of the Time’s Opinion section on Monday highlight a column by Tim Nickens, Editor of Editorials titled “Clinton supporters still hanging back” which upon review is from August 27, 2008.

Tampa Tribune

A screen shot of the Trib’s homepage on the same day shows a column by Steve Otto titled “All The News Fit To Twist” which upon review was published March 15, 2009. Otto has since then written 12 columns according to his profile page.

These two columns are over six months and one month out of date respectively and yet appear alongside current editorial and news, and in the case of the Tribune, on the website home page.

Another article covering Schmidt’s address to the Newspaper Association of America’s (NAA) annual conference in San Diego further gives more insight for the industry’s need to reevaluate how they operate online.

“I would encourage everybody to think in terms of what your reader wants,” Mr Schmidt told newspaper bosses.

“These are ultimately consumer businesses and if you [annoy] enough of them, you will not have any more,” he warned the Newspaper Association of America’s (NAA) annual conference in San Diego.

Currently the industry is focused on trying to save the newspaper instead of focusing on bringing a renaissance in journalism. Two examples in the evolution of the Internet come to mind when evaluating the newspaper industries approach to the dilemma.

Browser Wars

In the late nineties Microsoft was under fire from the Department of Justice for antitrust violations stemming from the integration of Internet Explorer into Windows 95. One of the largest catalysts of this was the declining use of Netscape Navigator which was losing market share and blaming the IE integration.

I commented online at the time (I can no longer find the posting however) that it was not the IE integration but lack of improvement on the part of Netscape that was the true culprit in the browser’s demise. Netscape had become comfortable and complacent.

Microsoft rightfully prevailed… became complacent (in my opinion) and while Netscape died, new browsers like Firefox and Google’s Chrome have become viable threats to IE’s domination.

Music Sharing

The next big shift was in online music that erupted with software like Napster allowing music to be shared freely across the Internet. The industry focused on intellectual property rights instead of innovation allowing Apple to release iTunes which now dominates the online music purchasing market.

The music industry is still chasing pirated music users to recoup lost revenue instead of reaping the rewards of innovation that Apple secured.

I recently got into a discussion regarding the use of Twitter and Facebook by the news media that has prompted me to address my opinions in greater detail.

I recently began spending more time evaluating Twitter after shelving it last fall for seeming slightly anemic in features and value. While I am Tweeting little myself, I am learning a great deal from my Ad 2 associates that Tweet regularly and by talking with my college cousin who has a few friends that use it.

My thoughts have evolved that Twitter is an intriguing medium with a great deal of potential that solid value can already be gained from.

While in Tallahassee earlier this month I had posted a status on Facebook critical of the media’s use of Twitter.

Vinny Tafuro wonders if large media outlets using twitter understand we all don’t need tweets on EVERY story; it’s spammy and completely impersonal.

This observation/opinion was a general statement but the direct result of my recently following @TBOcom and @StPeteTimes and using the Twirl application for Twitter.

After being challenged on my opinion, I had to focus on the catalyst of my tweet which was the large number of Tweets I receive from TBOcom.

Currently every TBOcom tweet is prefixed with “Breaking News” and followed by as much of the headline as possible and a link.

In that 24 hour period I had received 96 tweets that were considered “Breaking News” by the Tribune.
A sample tweet from that day (misspelling of Receive not my own):

Breaking News: Former Schools Superintendent To Recieve Honor: Longtime Hillsborough School Superi…

The award is being given April 15th and I am sure most of us would agree would not be considered “breaking news.”

Here is an analogy to illustrate what the Tribune is doing:

Imagine your daily printed newspaper arrived with every story printed in chronological order from front to back with no designation of section, subject and/or region it was related to forcing you to scan/read the entire paper?

For example; would it not be better for TBOcom to have a tboSports, tboHillsborough and tboPinellas twitter accounts and assign each one to the proper editor/writer?

I attended the lunchtime Tea Party in downtown Tampa today and was impressed by the turnout and enthusiasm of the crowd.

The crowd while mainly Republican was a solid mix of independents, Libertarians and Democrats  based on my observations of signs and shirts at least.

While I am encouraged by the outpouring of support and the civil unrest being voiced towards rampant spending and a disregard for the wishes of the people; I just don’t know if I believe people will follow up with real action to induce changes.

I agree with organizers and protestors that spending is outrageously out of control, that elected officials are not acting in the best interest of our country and that we are bankrupting future generations.

That said, change will not come from Washington and it is that misplaced focus that frustrates me the most.
The only way true change will occur and real Democracy be restored is if the citizens and the consumers of America participate in the process fully.

I noted signs at the rally held by children stating “hands off my piggy bank” and “stop spending my future” that do illustrate the long term effects of current decisions.

Voter turnout for the Hillsborough County School Board election last August was a pathetic 6% and should be prompting just as large of an outcry for more people to participate in local elections.

Until the non voting public is held accountable for their consistent inaction, I don’t believe that we will be able to hold our elected officials to any higher of standard than we hold ourselves.

As we continue to bail out private industries and prepare to file our taxes (or extensions) next week, I am reminded by the following two quotes that this is probably not how the founders (or at least Jefferson) intended it to be.

The first relates to the lessons we can learn from our founder as we are continually pressured to dip into the people’s pockets to bail out private for profit industries.

“I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.”

Thomas Jefferson in a letter to John Taylor Monticello, May 28, 1816
Source: University of Virginia Library Charlottesville, Va.

His first inaugural address can also be a lesson for today about making private industry pay its own way and to lower taxes on the income of our employees.

“A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.”

Thomas Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801
Source: University of Virginia Library Charlottesville, Va.

Are the income taxes we pay today not completely in defiance of this?

The Dorothy Thomas Exceptional Center where my Kids and Canine’s program is hosted earned a great basketball win.

It’s been 10 years since claiming the championship title, but with a 24-5 score, Dorothy Thomas Exceptional Center won Hillsborough County’s 16th Annual Leonard Shearer March Madness Basketball Tournament against Carver Exceptional Center. The tournament took place March 26th at the University of Tampa.

http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/communications/news/releaseoutput.cfm?r_id=7922