Responsibility
...I loved so much of doing journalism but not in the old way and I was concerned about where newspapers were headed and it was clear that if the audiences, if readers are going somewhere if we want to be part of it and make it meaningful...oldtimers like us have to jump in and try to do it...
...It's up to each one of us. We're responsible now for our own education and our own brands and our own communication and our own destiny and you can't depend upon big media any longer
The analogy to all of this, I think, is it's like the old studio system in Hollywood where the studios used to be responsible for everything. They would pay the talent under contract but they would do everything. They would promote you, they would market you, they would distribute the product and all you had to do was show up and do your little piece of it and that's not viable anymore. Now, all of us are independents, all of us are responsible for our own marketing, our own distribution and really, essentially, creating our own product if we want to reach the audience that's out there now.
There's too much emphasis on the manner in which it's being put out. Setting up a blog or starting a Facebook account. To me, you should never take your eye off the quality of the content, that's what matters...I respect the opportunity that I have and everything that I write, whether it's a blog or a Twitter feed or anything, I'm mindful of respecting my audience, I want to give them something that would at least interest me, something of value, something that's meaningful. It's not just done for my own amusement or my own ego.
Engagement
...It's about engaging the reader and that's one aspect of it but it's an important part of the new media and the world that we're in and that didn't happen in old media, that didn't happen at the Sun-Times. We wrote our piece, we went home, that was it. It was a monologue delivered and that was the end of the process...people, younger people in particular, are engaged in all media they consume and that includes news and journalism and they want to be able to react, they want to be able to use it in different ways, and that's what we're affording them the opportunity to do. I'm just setting the table, I'm starting the conversation every day and what happens out there is up to the people who read it.
Twitter
There are a million reasons why I think it's crucial for any journalist or anyone in media to be part of that conversation. You are reaching the people who want to be reached by you. You are hearing from the people you want to hear from. It is so ideal. And the fact that you are limited to be concise, in 140 characters, means you have to get to the point quickly...this is a throwback to the old wire service, you have to get the message across in a very short amount of time and you can post it immediately and it's all over the world.
The thing I love to share with people is the notion of these big public events, like the Oscars, or Oprah's big finale show. You can be sitting in your living room or in your bedroom with your laptop and if you have chosen to follow the right people on Twitter, the experience is...unbelievably rich, dynamic, full experience, there's nothing like it. It's like being in a room with the smartest, funniest, most clever people you know...and they're all chimming in, in real-time, reacting to the event you're watching on your television.
...it doesn't matter who you are. That's the thing about it. It's just the quality of your content. You don't have to be affiliated with a media organization, you don't have to be anybody. If what you have to say is smart enough, clever enough, funny enough, it'll rise to the top and millions of people will see it. When has media ever been as open and democratic, ever, in history.
On statistics about Chicago social media usage. Facebook = 80% Twitter = 17%.
I think that 17% is becoming the de facto media elite because you can be relatively well informed, I guess, without Twitter but with Twitter it's turbo-charged. You're getting the benefit of the world-wide eyes and ears focused on the issues, and the people, and the institutions that you care about...there's going to be a greater divide between that 17%, unless it grows, and the rest of the people as to who's really informed and how quickly they are and how widely their source of information is.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Any errors above are mine and mine alone. Fair warning: I made editing decisions which makes this an excerpt of Feder's comments rather than a complete transcription of his remarks. Let me suggest you view the video (link below) to gain context and a richer understanding of Robert Feder's observations.
Rob's comments were taken from his appearance at the 9/23/2011 SMW - Chicago session Reinventing a Media Career on Alternative Platforms. It was moderated by Bill Adee, Tribune's VP of Digital Stuff, and featured Robert Feder, Steve Dahl, Richard Roeper, and Nancy Loo. You may watch a video of the event here
Robert Feder writes the Chicago Media Blog at Time Out Chicago which may be
found here
