Lines blur between blogs, newspapers
When Jon Kleinberg wanted to study how news items bounced around the Internet, he set up an experiment. He tracked phrases in the news at the time 鈥� such as Barack Obama鈥檚 colorful presidential campaign line about putting 鈥渓ipstick on a pig鈥� 鈥� and traced their use online. For comparison, he split his analysis into two parts: the 20,000 or so 鈥渕ainstream鈥� news sources, as identified by Google News, and some 1.6 million 鈥渂logs.鈥�
The conclusion: Attention seemed to peak first among the 鈥渕ainstream鈥� sites 鈥� on average about 2-1/2 hours before interest surged in the blogging community.
That finding, released in a paper by Professor Kleinberg and two coauthors in July, needed to be interpreted very carefully because Google鈥檚 idea of the 鈥渕ainstream鈥� press includes numerous sites not affiliated with any newspaper or magazine. This new mainstream encompassed political talk sites such as the Daily Kos and celebrity gossip sites like Gawker and Just Jared. Bloggers appeared on both sides of the ledger.
Kleinberg, a computer scientist at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., remains excited about this 鈥渕eme-tracking鈥� algorithm and its ability to view news cycles scientifically and discover complex underlying patterns, which he plans to refine. But he also says he probably won鈥檛 try to divide 鈥渘ews鈥� and 鈥渂log鈥� sites in the future.
鈥淣ews and blogs now exist on a continuum, so there鈥檚 really no such thing as a two-part classification of the world into news and blogs,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou really have to think about the whole spectrum.鈥�
His conclusion is echoed by close observers of the news world. Rather than any bright line between journalists and bloggers, they say, the picture gets muddier by the minute.
Not that news seekers are obsessed with the topic. Some argue that only professional journalists notice 鈥� or care.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of confusion between what鈥檚 mainstream media and what鈥檚 other forms of media,鈥� says Sreenath Sreenivasan, a professor who teaches new media at Columbia University鈥檚 school of journalism in New York. But the average person poking around online doesn鈥檛 鈥渘ecessarily focus on that issue,鈥� he says.
鈥淚 have friends who get all their news from their Facebook news feed,鈥� he says. They get links to news articles from friends, but they鈥檒l also get news of friends who changed jobs, moved to a new house, or entered a new relationship. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 all 鈥榥ews鈥� to them,鈥� Dr. Sreenivasan says. It鈥檚 not about mainstream versus nonmainstream. It鈥檚 all about, 鈥淲hat is news to me?鈥� he says.
Rather than relying on familiar news organizations, people are more apt to trust their friends鈥� judgment. People may not even notice where the news item originated. 鈥淚f my friend Jim sent me this article, I鈥檓 going to trust it more because he sent it to me,鈥� Sreenivasan says.
鈥淭he best newspapers are going to end up looking like the best blogs, and the best blogs are going to end up looking a lot like the best newspapers,鈥� predicted a 20-something new-media prodigy named Garrett Graff five years ago. Now, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 virtually happened,鈥� Mr. Graff says. In 2005, he made news as the first blogger ever to be issued credentials as part of the White House press corps. This month, he takes over as editor in chief of long-established Washingtonian magazine, with 400,000 monthly readers of print and 400,000 more online.
Today, big blog sites such as The Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, or Talking Points Memo 鈥� sites originally designed to be different from newspapers 鈥� 鈥渁re basically evolving into newspapers,鈥� Graff says.
They have bureaus, reporters, and editors.
鈥淭he term 鈥榖logging鈥� is going to become obsolete because what we once considered blogs are morphing into something broader,鈥� adds Tom Rosenstiel, a veteran news-media analyst and journalist who now heads the Project for Excellence in Journalism in Washington.
On the other side of the equation, traditional reporters are blogging themselves, as well as posting observations on Twitter.com throughout the day, holding a two-way conversation with readers in which they not only dispense news but pick up information that enhances their reporting.
Other traditional journalists are jumping to new-media sites. Politico, a website covering US politics, was started in 2007 by two former Washington Post reporters. Now it has more White House correspondents than any print-based media outlet.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a really fascinating evolution that I think has happened much more quickly and with less hurrah than most people expected it to,鈥� Graff says.
Maybe we should be talking about 鈥渂ig-time鈥� media rather than 鈥渕ainstream,鈥� Sreenivasan suggests. A dwindling number of American news organizations have the financial muscle to report methodically on the big stories, he says, especially in remote (and expensive) regions such as Afghanistan, Iraq, or Iran.
Still, old-fashioned but online newspapers set much of the news agenda, these experts argue 鈥� at least for now. In contrast, most blogs act chiefly as news 鈥渁mplifiers,鈥� taking that information and redirecting it, getting more attention and broadening the discussion of the original report.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 going to change as newspapers begin to shrink further and as alternative operations grow,鈥� Mr. Rosenstiel says. 鈥淏ut day in, day out, much of what you see in other media started in newspapers.鈥�
What鈥檚 developed is a 鈥渟ymbiotic relationship鈥� between traditional news organizations and new media online 鈥渋n which they are both helped,鈥� Graff says.
鈥淏oth sides need each other,鈥� Sreenivasan agrees.
The Drudge Report, for example, wins a huge online following by displaying headlines from traditional news sites. But Drudge, in turn, drives traffic back to the original publications, creating a 鈥渨in鈥� for both parties.
While newspapers are struggling financially, they鈥檙e also enjoying a boom in readership, the first upturn in 20 years, Rosenstiel says.
鈥淭he audiences for even struggling publications like the San Francisco Chronicle and The Boston Globe are larger than they鈥檝e ever been,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he problem is that the Web isn鈥檛 generating revenue. So all those new readers and consumers aren鈥檛 bringing with them any financial benefit to the news operation.鈥�
As traditional and new media may be morphing into one another, one aspect of news may be lost in the transition, Graff suggests: the bread-and-butter newspaper story. The Washingtonian鈥檚 website sports the short news snippets that people seek online, while the print magazine luxuriates in leisurely in-depth reads of 6,000 words or more.
鈥淲hat I think you鈥檙e going to see die,鈥� he says, 鈥渁re the mid-length stories, from 500 words to 2,000 words, that are too long for people who aren鈥檛 interested in the subject, but too short for people who are.鈥�
