This week we’ll be having a tour of the Emerald’s Newsroom in the top floor of the EMU. As you might already know I was an Emerald Reporter and hence biased, but I do think the Emerald has some good lessons for our class. We’ll be talking to Eder Campuzano, the Senior Managing Editor and possibly Ryan Frank, the publisher and a former investigative journalist for the Oregonian.
To provide some background, you need to know that last year the Emerald has completely reinvented itself. This was a daily newspaper for decades and now it’s a twice weekly tabloid. After working on the Emerald a little bit last year I can tell you my feelings about the conversion: To read more about the transormation you can read the Emerald’s Garage blog.
Back to the class though, this will be a short media bundle.
Stephen Shepard, former editor-in-chief of Businessweek and founding dean of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism has a very enlightening interview with Charlie Rose. Watch from the 35: 40 minute mark to the end (about 16 minutes), process, and comment. He raises a lot of good points that might be related to the Emerald transition….
Watch the bundle, peruse the Emerald’s garage blog and possibly read through this week’s Emeralds. Bring solid informed questions to our newsroom tour about what the Emerald is trying to achieve.
#1 by Kevin Frazier on October 15th, 2012
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I enjoyed this video. The two talk about a number of things we’ve discussed in class such as people only selecting media that confirms their views, the internet’s ability to personalize advertising, and the importance of journalism being able to adapt to the changing world.
I’m really depressed over the idea that paper printed newspapers will cease to exist in a couple of years. As a huge fan of breakfast and information, I’ll have to be much more careful with coffee as you can spill it on paper but not on an ipad.
The discussion of frequency is very interesting and relates to the Emerald. I wonder why the weekly magazines did so much better?
#2 by Simone Smith on October 15th, 2012
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I thought that this video was extremely interesting. When Stephen Shepard mentioned that print news has a low chance of survival, I found myself agreeing with him. It is remarkable that during a time of dramatic change in journalism, magazines such as The Economist and The New Yorker were able to thrive. What is it that made these magazines superior to others? As Shepard mentioned, a good magazine isn’t guaranteed success. The number one piece of advice that Shepard mentioned was for magazines to establish a more sound business plan involving metering systems charging for content and targeted advertising. Inevitably, business is becoming digital.
I also found it interesting that Shepard feared that full access to media can potentially narrow society’s open-mindedness. This reminded me of our conversation about the “three channel TV” vs. the internet. With so much information circulating around and decentralized journalism, are we really becoming more open to new perspectives or are we receding back to preconceived notions?
#3 by Colin Takeo on October 15th, 2012
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It’s weird to think about the path that he took in order to become a journalist. Also, it’s interesting to see a guy who came from the print age and is embracing the digital age, but while still keeping journalism about quality, not quantity.
He said something along the lines of “it’s all about story choice”. I found that quote hit the nail on head. Unfortunately, I don’t know how objective your news outlet can remain if frontpage stories are being chosen just for money-making reasons.
I know it’s a reality of this age, but I was deflated a little when Shepard started talking about ad revenue and how personal advertising needs to play this key role in keeping digital journalism afloat. There are examples of really good news sources that don’t sell out, granted they don’t cover as much news as some major media company. I think it’s just too bad that this guy, who obviously loves the art of journalism, feels he has to immediately turn to advertising.
#4 by Ryan Kang on October 15th, 2012
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Like the rest of you, the worst part of the interview was hearing that print news will no longer exist in a few years. I am one who would rather spend $10 on a real book than $2 on an eBook, or whatever it actually costs. I love that feel of paper between my fingers, and if we were to permanently remove that, it would be pretty depressing. The same concept applies to my photography. I’m not a big fan of a electronic portfolio; I’d rather have large photo prints to show my work (I currently have large prints). However, I think with everything, change is eventually needed. I used to shoot with film, and the switch to digital was really big, but I eventually got used to it. I still enjoy shooting film though and I think that in the future, paper newspapers will be considered a “luxury”.
#5 by Brooke Hughes on October 16th, 2012
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I agree with the prior comments posted. The fact that print news may no longer exist is really upsetting. It also makes you think about the future of journalism and why the print news is so important to us. There’s a feeling of novelty with a real book or newspaper, these were what was read to us as kids and what we grew up with. There are some memories tied to print news. This is eventually going to happen with e-books. Kids are going to start growing up with technology and ebooks on iPads. Then when whatever new technology is invented ebooks will disappear the way written books did. As technology evolves, journalism is going to evolve along with it and companies will continue to move to wherever the most money is.
#6 by cesare bisbocci on October 17th, 2012
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The idea of printed papers not being around anymore has and always will be a part of the future that I have never really been able to embrace, I am nostalgic like that, but as Mr. Shepard’s says “We’re not in the printing business, or the paper business; we are in the business of journalism.” These words really serve to iconize the elasticity of journalism, while at the same time bringing to light the various different aspects of each facet of journalism that can be used in each different medium. And how as the moment in history requires, then the medium of journalism should adapt it’s different resources so as to meet the current news and social trends of the present. The Emerald’s recent revolution is a paragon of this concept.
#7 by Jaime on October 19th, 2012
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Very interesting. When I first heard that actual printed newspapers, iI kinda wanted to deny it. But that was more than a year ago and I have to say that now it just feels natural. But it’s taken te for me to get used to that. What has helped is tht I know printed journalism is not going to go away just yet, just the medium by which the words are delivered is changing. And honestly I’m ok with newspapers going away because they are pretty cumbersome to read and I always have to put it on the floor to read it flat. Anyway, I thought the interview was very interesting and provided good information.
#8 by Ian Murphy on October 19th, 2012
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One sort of miscellaneous thing I found interesting is how he described the way in which writers would work together, and sort of build off one another to make each individual writer stronger. I guess I just don’t really picture a newspaper or magazine as really a joint effort from various writers, since the tone is generally fairly consistent thanks to editing.
I do question his ideas on how newspapers can survive. I won’t argue that making changes like increased personalization would generate more revenue, but I do have to wonder if newspapers will remain newspapers. The thing is, newspapers are not personal (except maybe community run ones, but those are still about a community instead of one person.) They have to have a wide range of appeal, taking that away seems like you’re just turning them into something closer to a magazine that focuses on a certain demographic.
Then again, he does seem more concerned with journalism, than with newspapers.
#9 by Sami Edge on October 19th, 2012
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Oh no!
… was the link broken for anyone else?
..I can’t get there.
I think the Charlie Rose site is down though because Google won’t take me there.
#10 by Flannery Bethel on October 19th, 2012
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I found this very interesting. I agree with everyone, there is something about newspapers that I feel connects us to our history as a nation. Despite my nostalgia, he is correct in saying that print news will probably be eliminated within two years. I also appreciated the fact that some of the content in the video was relatable to our class discussion from last Friday. The fact that there is so much diverse media available to us, and we can pick and choose what we want to listen to. I really try to stay unbiased when informing myself about important international issues and such, but it is so difficult because I don’t know that there is a way to determine which sources stick to the truth.
#11 by Sami Edge on October 19th, 2012
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Phew! I got it to work!!
Where to start.. he mentioned so many things that resonated with me that I can’t even find a place to begin.
I loved his quote about trying to filter news and tell people what was important an that “on our good days it was something approaching wisdom.” Wonderful.
I love that he embraces technology, but believes that the newspaper can survive. I sure hope it can find a way. I believe that print itself can find a way. Don’t you prefer having a hard copy of an assignment in your hand? I sure do. It feels real. I remember to do it because I have a constant paper reminder. When I print an assignment I feel pride in the weight of the paper in my hands and how smoothly the words flow over the page. Also, reading online gives me a headache and I get lost too easily.
I am afraid of finding a job as a journalist in the future. Will they need people to find stories and write about them? Will there be any stories left to find when everyone has a youtube account?
Also.. something relevant. I learned today that Newsweek is done printing for good. They are now “Digital Only.” yikes.
Sorry I’m so scatterbrained. It’s been a very long week.
#12 by Flannery Bethel on October 19th, 2012
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There is something comforting about waking up on a Saturday morning and reading the New York Times while you sip some tea. The idea that print media will likely be eliminated sometime in the next two years is so sad to me. I feel like it’s a way that we can connect to our past. But frankly, I agree totally with him. There soon will be no fiscally intelligent reason to not completely convert to media through the internet. No matter how sad that may be.
I found this video very interesting, especially in the way that they discussed the topic we talked about in our last class: the idea that because we have so many options, it allows us to become more biased about issues. This is because the variety of sources allows us to pick and choose what we want to listen to. The more we have available, the more it restricts us.
#13 by Zachary Raphael on October 19th, 2012
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I liked his quote about how no matter what medium of communication is comes in, it is super important that the idea of journalism continues. He talked about this in the last few minutes of the video and I agree with him in the sense that technology has changed so much in the last few decades but the central idea of journalism that connects everything has stayed exactly the same and should stay the same.
I think people around the world should definitely continue to read news even if they don’t get the newspaper anymore and they have to go online!
#14 by Michael Parappilly on October 19th, 2012
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I think the idea that printed newspapers not existing in a few years is okay. The internet will always have the latest stories while newspapers only have the stories from the previous day. I think the purpose of the newspaper will change to showing more local news, rather than international events. For example, a local high school team winning a state championship or events that are happening in the community. In my opinion the newspaper is still great for things like comics which I used to read almost every day.
#15 by Tommy Woods on October 19th, 2012
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I liked the video, but I listened to it as more of an audiotape. It didn’t seem that the video aspect really was needed as a medium. Stephen Shepard came off as very modest but highly intelligent. I find it ironic that when he was talking about tuning into more news sources than just those that validate you own opinion, that everything he was saying was validating mine. I also found it interesting how the future of journalism was the hardest thing in his book to write about, and makes me think that if a professional such as Shepard has difficulty visualizing it, that our media future will be more amazing than I previously thought.
#16 by Jaime on October 19th, 2012
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The Huffington Post – Newsweek suicide
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2012/10/19/newsweek-print-magazine-industry_n_1983927.html
#17 by Paul Duncan on November 15th, 2013
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I haven’t gotten it to work.
#18 by Grant on November 15th, 2013
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same here… but I went looking for the video.
Is the last part of this video what we’re looking for?
http://www.charlierose.com/watch/60132464
starting around minute 35:40?
#19 by Grant on November 15th, 2013
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If this is the correct video of Stephen Shepard, I’ll post my comments… (and if not, well then oh well.)
I liked Mr. Shepard. He sounded like he knew his stuff but knew he didn’t know everything. I thought it was interesting when he said that “printing” journalism is dead. Though it seems to me that is the route journalism is going, I hadn’t quite thought it was final, for the same reasons that I don’t believe printed books will ever completely disappear.
I also believe he’s right, especially when he said that the key to great journalism (whether digital or print) is story selection. That is where the quality comes in, and that’s what people have and will pay for. It makes sense to me.
One last thought. He mentioned the election and the point that it was the most widely voted-on election in the history of America. How big a role do you (anyone) think technology had in its widespread-ed-ness, if any?
#20 by Delanie Clark on November 15th, 2013
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I liked this interview and I thought it was very insightful and informative. In my Media and Society class we’ve been discussing similar issues, such as the future of journalism in our world that keeps digitizing. I thought Mr. Shepard brought up an interesting point about how even if print journalism dies out, journalists will just adapt, because journalists aren’t in the printing industry or paper industry. It’s just journalism, no matter what medium. I thought it was really cool how he mentioned how his field was in years past and compared them to how it is now, but he didn’t have that super critical, “back in the good old days” kind of perspective, he seemed very open and accepting of the changes in the field, and ready and willing to accommodate to today’s media consumers’ needs. I think that is what makes him such a successful person in the field.
#21 by Mandi Severson on November 15th, 2013
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The interview with Stephen Shepard was very relevant to the change in the Emerald and why it has remained successful. I noticed a few things in particular that Stephen mentioned that the Emerald does now, like putting people on its covers. I read the Emerald as it comes out, about twice weekly. Because I’m a freshman, I didn’t know what it looked like before they changed it until I watched that video. I think they are definitely trying to add more of the people factor to retain interest. Another thing that Stephen said was important to the success of any news medium is choice of story. I liked that he said it didn’t matter as much what medium the news came through as long as it was quality journalism. I think we need more of that. Because if the other stuff he said about our narrow opinions is true (and it probably is), we need to be consuming quality journalism. Sometimes we don’t, and the proof is in the masses being misinformed about things like science and politics. We look for what we want to see and hear what we want to hear. However, that doesn’t necessarily keep us informed. Another quote by Stephen that I like was that editors are like teachers in a way. Having been an editor myself (my high school yearbook) I can definitely relate to teaching people your vision and helping them bring out their best writing.
#22 by Marisa Polonsky on November 15th, 2013
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I really enjoyed this interview and I think it shed light on how advanced the journalism department at UO is for making the changes they have to The Emerald. Emphasizing quality journalism and up and coming technology versus tradition and quantity is an impressive move. Seeing Emerald issues around campus I am always impressed by the editorial-like photography, eye catching titles and writing in the articles that always lives up to their high standard. Another thing I enjoyed about the interview was the idea that true journalism can live on whether or not it comes in the form of a daily issue newspaper.
#23 by Lillian Huebner on November 15th, 2013
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I love that Shepard points to better reporting as a way to improve a magazine. Even though journalism is a job (and thus a business in the line of making money) I’ve still always thought the main point of any media publication is to report. Whether that means more investigative stories or more narratives, better reporting will always improve a publication.
Story choice is EVERYTHING. Over the summer I worked for the local newspaper in my town. It’s a small farm town, so not a lot goes on. So our story choices were very limited. And it definitely showed. No one’s going to read your newspaper/magazine/blog if the stories aren’t interesting and/or important to the reader.
I hate the idea that media is just another business. I understand that people need to make money, but ads and fees are not the answer. It shouldn’t be expensive to just find out what happened yesterday, and people shouldn’t have to wade through pages and pages of ads.
#24 by Jordan on November 15th, 2013
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I thought that the interview as a whole was pretty interesting but there were a couple points that definitely stood out to me. At around the 42 minute mark Shepard compares being an editor to being a professor and says that they are very similar jobs; that in each profession, “you are trying to bring out the best in people.” This struck me as an intriguing way of looking at it. An editor wants to finalize the best stories and make the author look like he did a wonderful job. While a teacher is also trying to make the best of who is working with, but just in a different fashion. A professor is guiding his/her student to greatness. The goal is the same in both cases though. The other part that caught my attention was around the 49 minute mark when he talks about open-mindedness. It’s a discussion I know we had in class about choosing who to follow on Twitter and be friends with on Facebook and such so I like hearing him talk about it in a much more professional sense. Media is evolving to let us choose so much, which makes us more narrow-minded and that’s something that could really backfire going forward, so it’s definitely something we need to think about and figure out if there is any way to solve this issue.
#25 by Annelise Cummings on November 15th, 2013
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This bundle was interesting because it was different from all the others. I was watching it with Leah and we found ourselves trying to distract ourselves from the story. Though I know this sounds bad, it actually illustrates one of the points in the interview – that new media involves a dialogue between the consumer and the producer of the media and by extension, the dialogue between different media giants.
As someone who doesn’t always enjoy sitting down and reading static pieces, I enjoyed this video by PBS Game Show: http://dft.ba/-79cu. This video highlights an issue that arose on the internet around feminism and the hate that this one female gamer was getting for highlighting the biases and tropes in the media. It was from this video that I began watching some of her works and as a result, began to understand the argument and discussion around it. Though she was receiving a lot of hate for her actions, she was also serving as a figure that would facilitate the discussion, even if it involves harsh language. With out this new form of media and information distribution, I would have never have heard of this issue or gone out and sought more information.
I would love it if we could talk about this dialogue in media more. It’s interesting to see how people in the field communicate with the general public and make them interested in it.
#26 by Leah Thompson on November 15th, 2013
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I thought the interview with Stephen Shepard interesting because of the fact that he switched careers. I love biology but I also love many other things. I liked hearing that Shepard was able to go into a different field and be successful despite his science background. I don’t plan on changing my major or career but it’s promising to know that you can do it and be successful. I also thought that his opinion about how journalism will adapt to what comes in the future. I wonder what medium will be used in, say, 50 years? I’m sure that journalists will find a way to utilize it.
#27 by Paul Duncan on November 15th, 2013
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I liked the interview, and I really like the direction the emerald is going.
It’s funny, I follow the Emerald on Instagram and like them on Facebook, and I like what they do alot, but I often see those people standing on the corners handing out the printed copies, and I never even consider grabbing one. I just have no interest in consuming my media in that medium, and I doubt I’m alone there.
I did notice thought that the things Shepard pointed out as being necessary for newspapers to continue to stay profitable; charging for stuff, video ads, are massive turn-offs to me. I think there are still plenty of struggles that are going to have to be overcook by newspapers and magazines that want to digitalize.
#28 by Chris Ableidinger on November 15th, 2013
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This Charlie Rose interview was very interesting to me because at a young age Stephen Shepard had many of the same interests as I. The questions he faced and the choices he made such as moving away from his engineering masters, becoming an editor rather than a reporter, and becoming an educator and journalist rather than a businessman were all very decisive moments in his professional development. For someone whose career path is as foggy as mine, it is always nice to hear the stories of others.
His insights on journalism were also very interesting. Moving away from the financials of companies to the people behind them was a great way to capture more interest and explain the driving forces behind the corporate world. He mentions how the frequency of Businessweek Magazine allowed them to use the everyday news as a starting point for telling analytical stories. In a time when even strong magazines will fail Shepard is saying that story selection is the key to success.
At his school, Shepard is focusing on teaching a new generation how to financially support quality journalism in a digital age. This directly speaks to the issues brought up by Professor Hopkins in our last class. Revenue must come from a television style sponsoring system, using the internet’s ability to target audiences with specialized content. Shepard also mentions the risk of social networking in creating levels of targeting and specialization that are too isolated and immune to new ideas. People surround themselves with like minds, making it harder for new and different ideas to penetrate.
Also Charlie Rose interrupts his interviewees too often…
#29 by Ali lyons on November 15th, 2013
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The most interesting part to me in the video was probably the fact that journalism is adapting to the ever changing world of media. The way we get our information has changed so much just within the last 10 years. It is sad to think that newspapers are disappearing just as CD and VHS did with the new technology. Another point that was made that I found interesting was finding information on the Internet that fits what we want it to be and enjoy. Overall I think its great that we can have our information brought to us this way because it goes along with the rest of the technology driven world and realistically it saves paper. I’m really glad Stephen is able t accept the change because it really is going to happen whether we like it or not. I wonder what the new system of giving out information will be like in 10 years.
#30 by Alyssa Dragelin on November 15th, 2013
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It’s sad to think that newspapers will cease to exist in printed form within the next few years, but I am equally a part of the cause as most people. I never read the newspaper; it’s almost a little intimidating. The effort required to find the articles you want to read turns me off from reading print newspapers.
It’s crazy how the printing press completely revolutionized the modern world’s access to information, and now we are witnessing its decline hundreds of years later. Though this depresses me, the online media explosion excites me. I’m interested to see how they continue repurpose the availability of information in the future.
#31 by Taylor Nieri on November 15th, 2013
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I agree with everyone. I think that being a college student you can relate to wanting to be do so many different things. College in a way makes you narrow minded, but he remained adaptable to change as did the Emerald. Switching from science to journalism. It was a very insightful video, I just recently have seen the Emerald and I can already see that it is a quality product. They create a personal connection with their audience by allowing that social medium to act as a connector. Digitalizing Media is going to be the up and coming thing, its inevitable with all of our technology and they are taking advantage of it.
#32 by Peter Anderson on November 15th, 2013
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It’s weird to think about the last time I picked up a newspaper. The trend towards digital media I feel is a positive one, as well as a profitable one. I’m glad companies like the Emerald and Wall Street Journal are able to adapt and still be profitable in what they do. I find it funny that the only time I’ve read an emerald article was when it was online… the digital age is definitely taking over and I hope it continues on this way.
#33 by Kenzie Baker on November 18th, 2013
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I enjoyed the interview and thought that the most interesting element was that today’s media is a rapidly evolving thing. I think that the way many companies, such as the Emerald, are keeping up with the trends of digitization is amazing. Even though journalism is moving away from the old times of the Sunday papers and towards a completely digitized and modernized experience, it is still journalism. As much as I enjoy reading off of a page, I think that reading a newspaper is a consuming and daunting task. I am interested to see how journalism will change.