Chris sounds like a fine journalist and I hope he will enjoy this typewriter for many years.
The low quality of today's typical reporting is illustrated by stories that consist simply in reporting on how often some term turned up on Twitter recently. The research for that story takes 10 seconds, it can be done from anywhere, and it's not about actual events but only about the masses' perception of events -- secondary news, at best. I am amazed by how common these "reports" are.
Thanks Richard My observations in the past few weeks of the switch to "new platforms" is that reporters aren't required to "fight for space" on the print pages anymore. Editorial conferences at 4pm make decisions but if things happen before a midnight deadline, too bad, preference is given to online content and the new editing system doesn't allow for rapid print edition changes. This takes the competitive edge away from reporters, editors. In my day, one battled to get prominent spots. Chris toils away at night, filling acres of space with news stories, accurate and well written. I once thought of him as the "future" for print journalism, but it's more likely he's a remnant of a past era. The reader, the subscriber, is the big loser.
I'm glad to hear that there are still real journalists at work behind The Canberra Times, and although I was adamant when you left, Robert, that I wasn't going to buy it again, I might have to think twice now if the right stories fill the front page. Would you say, Robert, that new coverage now isn't about quality, it's about quantity? I mean, gone are the days of the restrictions in front page real estate - as much as you like can be vomited up online. It's about being the quickest, having the most coverage (even if it isn't well done); it isn't about good, quality stories that take you to the place and time. We had to write a letter to the editor as a school English writing excercise. I can't remember exactly what I wrote, but I said that print media is dead, but that it is the newspapers holding the knives themselves.
3 comments:
Chris sounds like a fine journalist and I hope he will enjoy this typewriter for many years.
The low quality of today's typical reporting is illustrated by stories that consist simply in reporting on how often some term turned up on Twitter recently. The research for that story takes 10 seconds, it can be done from anywhere, and it's not about actual events but only about the masses' perception of events -- secondary news, at best. I am amazed by how common these "reports" are.
Thanks Richard
My observations in the past few weeks of the switch to "new platforms" is that reporters aren't required to "fight for space" on the print pages anymore. Editorial conferences at 4pm make decisions but if things happen before a midnight deadline, too bad, preference is given to online content and the new editing system doesn't allow for rapid print edition changes. This takes the competitive edge away from reporters, editors. In my day, one battled to get prominent spots. Chris toils away at night, filling acres of space with news stories, accurate and well written. I once thought of him as the "future" for print journalism, but it's more likely he's a remnant of a past era. The reader, the subscriber, is the big loser.
I'm glad to hear that there are still real journalists at work behind The Canberra Times, and although I was adamant when you left, Robert, that I wasn't going to buy it again, I might have to think twice now if the right stories fill the front page.
Would you say, Robert, that new coverage now isn't about quality, it's about quantity? I mean, gone are the days of the restrictions in front page real estate - as much as you like can be vomited up online. It's about being the quickest, having the most coverage (even if it isn't well done); it isn't about good, quality stories that take you to the place and time.
We had to write a letter to the editor as a school English writing excercise. I can't remember exactly what I wrote, but I said that print media is dead, but that it is the newspapers holding the knives themselves.
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