"10 Questions" Ricochet Through Journalism Circles
Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellow Matt Thompson ignites firestorm of journalistic conversation with "10 questions."
rji.missouri.edu - January 21, 2009
RJI Fellow Matt Thompson started the journalism blog Newsless.org
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(PRNewsChannel) / Columbia, Mo. / Halfway through his Fellowship year at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, Matt Thompson posted 10 questions on his blog, Newsless.org, igniting professional discussion and campus debate at J-Schools around the country.
The issue: overload.
“Our society has done a 180-degree reversal,” says Thompson. “We have shifted from a state of information scarcity to a state of information overload. But today’s journalism is still structured around information scarcity."
“We talk about filling the ‘news hole,’” he says. “Or ‘localizing’ news stories.” [Taking a good story from another market and adapting it locally.] “Those approaches are about telling more stories...putting more information on the record...approaches designed to deal with information scarcity. But the net effect is that when I encounter ‘the news’ these days, I feel less informed, not more so.”
According to Thompson, “Instead of telling more stories we need to tell larger stories.”
Excerpted here are the first of Thompson’s “Ten Questions for Journalists in the Era of Overload.” Visit RJI for the full list with contextual links. Or visit Thompson’s blog and join the discussion.
1. Are we making our community feel better-informed or merely distracted?
...The shocking truth: Seeing a ton of headlines on a news site makes many media consumers feel overwhelmed, not more plugged-in....
2. How important is this for our community to know and why?
Editors supposedly ask themselves this question all the time....
3. Are we chasing the larger story, or just the latest story?
Yesterday's news cycle was all about filling the news hole — finding anything especially interesting that happened in a particular window of time and throwing it onto a page or into a broadcast...I want a relationship with my visitors. I want commitment....
During his 2008-2009 Donald W. Reynolds Fellowship Thompson is working with the Columbia Missourian on a research prototype to be shared with the industry. The goal is to expose the context surrounding news events by creating a living archive of evolving news topics. Blogs and subsequent coverage flow into the archive. Information hierarchy and story synthesis are two of the elements being explored. Thompson explains, “If we do this right, when you come to the Web site we create, you will actually begin to feel *more informed* rather than merely ambiently aware.”
The co-creator of EPIC 2014 and its sequel EPIC 2015, Thompson specializes in new media. Before joining RJI Thompson was a deputy Web editor at the Minneapolis Star Tribune. While there, he launched the arts-and-entertainment site vita.mn, two-time winner of the Newspaper Association of America's Digital Edge Award for Best Local Guide.
The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) is located at the Missouri School of Journalism on the University of Missouri campus. RJI programs are aimed at improving journalism in the service of democracy. Some initiatives focus on immediate challenges and opportunities, testing new technologies or business strategies for the gathering, formatting or delivery of news and advertising. Others are more long-range and conceptual, aimed at preserving traditional journalism values like accuracy and fairness in a chaotic technology and business environment.
In its first four years, RJI has launched more than 60 journalism initiatives, most of them in collaboration with the nation’s leading private media companies and professional journalism and advertising organizations.
RJI is currently accepting proposals for the 2009-2010 class of Fellows.
About The Reynolds Journalism Institute: RJI was founded with an initial grant of $31 million from The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, The Reynolds Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the United States.
Contact:
Kelly Peery, Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute
Email:
Phone: (573) 884-9121
Website: www.rji.missouri.edu
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