Mark Silverman's article in the Tennessean is a must-read for every newspaper journalist trying to survive as digital reporting takes over the printed page. He explains the social media and how journalists can find a natural niche in it.
In Media, Communities Return to Their Roots, Editor Silverman describes ways in which journalists can remain viable. It is a matter adapting to the realities of reporting in the digital age.
Past History of News Gathering and Publication
Silverman reminds writers that journalists have been sharing information about events leading up to the American Revolution. Printed pages were distributed on street corners, posted on trees and on the sides of buildings. He describes it as social media 1700-style and compares it with the techniques and technology of today.
Changes in the Tennessean Audience
He writes about the Tennessean experience where the readers spanned generations. Then cable TV stations, radio talkl shows and Web sites appeared, each focusing on a narrower group of customers. Readers and listeners began paying attention to media that catered to their beliefs, seeing only a particular picture of their community. The result was a nation of niches.
Two-way Communication in the 21st Century
Silverman says that journalism is no longer a one-way street. Journalist now provide information and expertise that triggers community reporting and collective conversations. He compares this to the 1770's as people are finding ways to interact with the journalists, just as they once debated on street corners in the 18th Century.
He sees journalists becoming their own editors, making choices about the information they want to include and including data from outside sources if they wish. The picture Silverman paints is about journalists having the courage to experiment and to become part of the mass media which is a collection of niches woven together by social networking. To him, it is a rebirth of of what began over two hundred years ago which has been refined in the digital age.
To read the complete article: The Tennessean
About Mark Silverman: Editor and VP Content and Audience Development at The Tennessean, Editor and Publisher, the Detroit News. He was Sunday Managing Editor at the Providence Journal from 1979-1986. He is a graduate of University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
The Tennessean is the principal daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee which has a circulation area covering 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in Southern Kentucky. It is owned by the Gannett Corporation and is affiliated with several smaller community newspapers in Middle Tennessee.
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