Framing- Know your niche

The traditional media business model is sinking like the Titanic. I was lucky. Before it completely sank, I found a lifeboat that got me to safety. Now that I am safely ashore at Elon University, I can watch the ship go down and reflect on what I learned. Despite the pessimism within the industry, I believe there are still opportunities to make money by selling journalistic news. But to do so,  expectations and traditions must change:

• Is paper the problem? The State of News Media report says lost advertising, lower circulation, and changing demographics are primarily why newspapers are suffering. That’s only part of the answer. On a larger level, newspapers are suffering because they revere the ‘print’ product over everything else. Is it still feasible to spend huge sums of money to deliver content on paper in a media environment that allows anybody with a $700 computer to start their own news outlet online? Especially when everything provided in the paper format can be accessed for free online? Isn’t revering the ‘paper’ product in the newsroom like revering a vhs tape in Hollywoood? At some point, it’s about the content you deliver, not the method you deliver it with.
• Stay in your lane: Traditional news outlets may ultimately be forced to play the ‘cable game.’ Successful networks on cable often find an untapped niche and heavily cover that area. When Espn was started, nobody thought you could create an entire network based on sports. Now look. Same with Food Network. Same with Discovery. All these entities took areas that were touched on by other outlets and made them full blown destinations. Is there a lesson here to be learned by traditional media outlets (especially newspapers?) With resources dwindling, is it reasonable for them to waste time and page space on ‘national’ coverage? If I can understand the national political scene with a free scan of Google news and free political blogs, why do I care that my local print product has it also? Conversely, a local paper has access to local content that no national entity can ever match. Is hyper-local a niche that print papers can exploit?
• Embrace your audience: Traditional media must accept that communication in media is now a two way street. We are no longer the exclusive gatekeepers of information anymore. The older audience that supports the print product can’t sustain the old business model anymore and the younger audience that still wants news demands interactivity. Journalists that see the audience as ‘dirty rabble’ will be left behind. We can’t be above the fray anymore – interactive technology online and on mobile devices requires us to wade into the crowd. Reporters can’t stay on stage anymore – its time to dive into the mosh pit!