The alchemy of media funding

A couple of weekends ago at a farm in Dodgeville, I spoke with Isthmus editor Dean Robbins, Vivian Vahlberg (the first woman president of the National Press Club), and her husband, who works for the Tribune Company.

I asked them all what they think the solution to the maelstrom of media funding was and they responded with the same answer: "You!"

They agreed that there will always be a market for information, the issue is finding the right mix of funding streams (sorry to break into ASM-ese) to support the industry.

I think the New York Times is at the forefront of trying to accomplish this. Last week it issued a survey testing the idea of a $5/month online subscription fee (or $2.50 for print subscribers).

Today, Poynter Online informed me that NYT is also considering incorporating foundation sponsorships into its financial plan.

Craig Whitney, an assistant managing editor at the Times who serves as the paper's standards editor, said in a telephone interview Friday, "We've begun to ask ourselves whether it would be possible to get the kind of support that NPR does from foundations for its journalism."

...

"Don't make it sound as though we're going to do it," he cautioned, stressing that no decisions have yet been made. "But we have to think about whether we should do it or could do it, given economic conditions."

He said the paper has "no desire to become a nonprofit corporation."

There isn't one solution to keep journalism thriving, but hopefully media research like what NYT is doing will lead to an effective balance of funding.

The Sconz

I've really been digging The Sconz since its inception a few weeks ago, especially in light of the paucity of CB posts of late. It's a refreshingly rational look at Madison politics that hits the sweet spot of controversiality without as many personal attacks. The posting consistency is just as impressive - an area I've obviously struggled with.

Keep up the good work, Jack!

Side note: your banner is a bit ominous what with the red sky and the evil disproportionate cows and whatnot, but I'll let that slide. Seriously, though, let me know if you want me to whip you up a little Photoshop majik (not that I have anything to brag about yet on this site).

For my own benefit: Holy schnike, I'm no longer the only one "following" myself on Blogger!! Thanks much, Army Hippie Chick!

Cheese paper

Have you ever gotten frustrated trying to Saran wrap a block of cheddar, only to find it ossified and moldy in your fridge a few days later?

Cheese paper is the answer.



Kind of annoying that you have to tape it up, but I suppose that's the price to pay for humidity-regulated, cheese-cave-environment-simulated queso. Having a nice design doesn't hurt either.

Also, quote of the day: "...and you will have a beautifully wrapped serving of cheese."

FYI

You damn kids!

Synopsis: College kids are so dumb and drunk all the time - and there's so many of them here! And most of them are gone now, so places are less crowded! Let me paint for you a picture of such Madison hidey-hole landmarks as "State Street" and their appeal with fewer people. And did I mention you can shop for groceries more easily now? Good thing those damn kids aren't here to funnel money into the state economy step on my lawn! When I decided to live in Madison I didn't realize it would be, y'know, a college town or anything.

EDIT: And this comment Isthmus' editorial staff deemed fit for publication. Disgusting.

I live downtown and really don't mind windowshopping the fresh crop of taut young fleshbuckets that swarm into town every year like a plague of dumb attractive locusts.
But once they've gained 15 pounds and are temporarily exterminated, there are some nice changes...

(emphasis added)

BTW Isthmus, maybe if you employed more of those rowdy college kids (who are willing to work for nothing) your front page graphics wouldn't look so shitty.

Newsroom cuts hamper the wrongfully accused

This NYT article is spooky in both the drop in journalists investigating death row cases, and in some lawyers' dependence on the media.

Now, the lawyers complain, they have to do more of the work themselves and that means it often doesn’t get done.

[Barry Scheck, co-founder of New York's Innocence Project]: "When procedural mechanisms begin to fail, the press is the last resort for the public to find out the truth."

In the past, critics including Supreme Court justices have stressed the importance of media not fulfilling government functions, e.g. the Houchins v. KQED decision:

The media are not a substitute for or an adjunct of government and, like the courts, they are "ill equipped" to deal with problems of prison administration ... We must not confuse the role of the media with that of government; each has special, crucial functions, each complementing - and sometimes conflicting with - the other.

But is that the case here? Is the fact that some legal professionals have come to expect help from the media worrisome for the legitimacy of the judicial system, the media, or both?

I've often thought about how J-Schoolers could work with UW Law students through a program similar to The Innocence Project. Perhaps by collaborating with budding lawyers, budding journalists will find their way back to the investigative fold, but more on that later.

This ain't no disco

Photo courtesy Denis Kitchen

Whether or not you're as avid about (non-superhero/manga) comics as I am, I highly recommend going to the Chazen's new exhibit, "Underground Classics: The Transformation of Comics into Comix, 1963-1990." (Disclosure: heaps o' nudity/sex/drug use depicted, so not for the kiddies)

Here's an interview from the exhibit's blog with J-School prof and co-curator James Danky:

“But it is really the readers of today who will find Underground Classics to be shockingly wonderful. They have no idea how the visual freedom they take for granted when reading comics today was created, and by whom. And they will love the images, whether for a glimpse into their parent’s secret past or for the uninhibited approach to art and life.”

And here's a more profesh review.

Recommended reading/viewing:
-Any of the Best American Comics anthologies
-"Fun Home" by Alison Bechdel
-"La Perdida" by Jessica Abel
-Anything by Lynda Barry, who I first got into sneaking books from my mom's collection
-The works of Milwaukee native and comix pioneer Denis Kitchen
-"Blankets" by Milwaukee's own Craig Thompson
-Anything by Adrian Tomine ("Summer Blonde" and "Shortcomings" in particular)

And to be obvious...
-"Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi (movie=eh)
-"Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth" by Chris Ware
-"American Splendor" by Harvey Pekar (good movie)
-"Ghost World" by Daniel Clowes (both comic and movie)
-"Art School Confidential" by Daniel Clowes (movie=eh)
-Maus by Art Spiegelman (is this a movie yet? I hope not.)
-R. Crumb (but do not see the movie "Crumb" under any circumstances)

I could go on ... if you have a hankerin' I have the Best American Comics 2006-2008 if you would like to borrow them. Brill stuff.

In other news, I learned yesterday that I will be working as the Wisconsin Student Lobby's communications director starting in July. Excuse this: Eeeeeee!!!

Dear ASM:

Learn how to count.

Sry

about the lack of updates. Shiz is getting real.

For the time being:

This is, to an extent, what I imagine THE FUTURE OF GERMANALISM looking like.

The news business “is in a difficult time period right now, between what was and what will be,” said Gary Kebbel, the journalism program director for the Knight Foundation, which has backed 35 local Web experiments. “Our democracy is based upon geography, and we believe local information is such a core need for our democracy to survive.”

This is not to say blogs like Outside.in, Patch and their ilk are an absolute beacon of hope for journalism. The problem of accuracy on blogs still exists, but as they grow in number and popularity they are also held more accountable.

The article also addresses the paradox of ad revenue - while such "hyperlocal" sites would give advertisers an ideal environment for targeting specific consumers, they don't have the scope of broader publications.

Still, said Peter Krasilovsky, a program director at the Kelsey Group, which studies local media, many small businesses have never advertised outside the local Yellow Pages and are an untapped online ad market whose worth his firm expects to double to $32 billion by 2013.

It all comes back to the Texas/Maine quandary that anyone who's taken J201 will know all too well, which was posed by Thoreau in Walden and adopted by media guru Neil Postman:

We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate.

The trend with NEW MEDIA seems to be a consistent broadening of butterfly effect ideals - if something happens somewhere, it has an impact on everything else everywhere.

But something's gotta give. Eventually, social exhaustion will set in for some of those trying to keep up with the news of the day - I know that's been the case for me. When everything is emphasized, important items lose meaning while trivial events/memes/etc become our culture.

OK.

What this article suggests, and what I'm advocating, is a return to emphasizing the local. This is not to detract from the significance of global events, but in recognition that we are humans, not information aggregators - we care about what directly affects us.

We can empathize with that which does not affect us, but, at the risk of sounding cynical, empathy carries little weight when not backed up with cold hard cash.

Newspaper Revitalization Act

This newspaper bailout bill proposed by Senator Benjamin Cardin, which would allow qualified newspapers to be exempt from taxes, makes me wary.

Cardin's Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the U.S. tax code, giving them a similar status to public broadcasting companies.

Under this arrangement, newspapers would still be free to report on all issues, including political campaigns. But they would be prohibited from making political endorsements.

The bill defines qualifications for newspapers to receive the tax break:

(1) the trade or business of such corporation or organization consists of publishing on a regular basis a newspaper for general circulation,
(2) the newspaper published by such corporation or organization contains local, national, and international news stories of interest to the general public and the distribution of such newspaper is necessary or valuable in achieving an educational purpose, and
(3) the preparation of the material contained in such newspaper follows methods generally accepted as educational in character.

Senator Cardin's heart seems to be in the right place, but proposing this bill suggests a lack in understanding of the fundamental implications of government-supported print, the medium that currently enjoys the most First Amendment protection and least governmental control.

"We are losing our newspaper industry," Cardin said. "The economy has caused an immediate problem, but the business model for newspapers, based on circulation and advertising revenue, is broken, and that is a real tragedy for communities across the nation and for our democracy."

True, but consider the costs. For example, would this bill passing necessitate establishing an FCC-like organization for print? The vagueness of the language describing newspaper qualifications is another problem--how easy would it be for the government to deem a newspaper no longer significantly "educational" and take away a its nonprofit status? Newspapers should not have to choose between staying in the black and providing independent coverage.

Thoughts?

via LIB