I love to rip on sportswriters who ask the same questions each and every year, with only the names, records and teams changes to protect the bored.
Why ? Because journalism matters. Every game is its own ecosystem (welcome to the new tech buzzword inserted here to make you say.. huh ?). It takes on a life of its own, with strategy, personalities, sub plots. The best we get in questions is "what happened coach ?" or prompts that the reporter hopes will result in someone getting in trouble "What did you think of the refs ?" No depth.
I realize its not really the reporters fault. Its the result of newsenomics. Or to paraphrase the masthead of a once great, now decent newspaper, "all the news we can now afford to find and print".
Of course thats a shame, but it also is missing the opportunity of a lifetime.
The perception from traditional media seems to be that "media savvy youth of today" dont read , or need newspapers. They dont need the traditional 6pm news. They dont need news networks.
Thats true, they dont need them. They do want them however.
The problem is that they want them packaged to their liking - with a payoff.
Thats what media is missing with kids today. Its not the medium that acts as the circulation prevention team, its the lack of payoff and packaging.
Howard Stern has absolutely no problem discussing everything and anything happening in the world today. None. His listeners are without question better educated about the role of the FCCÂ along with any number of important relevant issues happening today, than viewers of the CBS Evening News. Kids and adults will listen to Howard. Why ? With Howard, you get a payoff. You know if there is an angle to be exploited to find the humor, irony or hypocrisy, he will find it.
Remember when "Mike Wallace with 60 Minutes" used to strike fear in the hearts of evil doers across the world ? And viewers of 60 minutes loved it. Why ? Because we knew there was always a payoff coming. Anyone fit that role anymore ?
Journalism matters.
ABC hired Charles Gibson. Why ? Because he represents what ? Tonights stories on ABC all feature a talking head showing a picture , then talking some more , describing the picture.
A simple question. What is it that a viewer can get on world news tonight that couldnt be found on any Yahoo /Google?Yourfave newsite ? Where is the payoff ? Where is the journalism ?
Want to get younger viewers ? Go out and hire the very best recent college journalism graduates you can find. Give them a camera, a computer and an area of specialty; Business, local politics, national politics, whatever. Better yet, ask them what they think matters. Enable them to be the new "mike wallace and 60 minutes" . Tell them their only requirement is that they are equal parts journalist and adrenalin junkies. Focused on fearlessly finding the truth behind stories that matter to them, their families and friends. Guess what, even for a 21 year old, its not just about Paris Hilton, Bradgelina and the latest Rap feud.
Kids want to learn. They want to know.
Journalism matters.
But they arent going to turn in unless there is a payoff.
Does anyone in mainstream media honestly believe user generated content stops with parodies of Lazy Sunday ? Troll through myspace. Its not only for personal branding. (yes, thats what Myspace is all about. Personal Branding. MySpace = your indvidual CSS. You are what you post on your myspace page). Do a search on haditha, timor, any topic you can find in the news, and there are hundreds with an opinion about it on myspace, the other social networks and of course personal blogs like this.
Which leads to the question. Who will amass a material audience first. Young, energetic journalism graduates who post about the topics they care about on their own sites, or the main stream media.
The race is on. Unless of course you hire the people that can provide the payoff that people of all ages want.
I just hired a young, award winning journalist to partner with me on a blog that will do nothing but try to uncover corporate fraud. Young, energetic, fired up and damn the stuff i have seen so far is good. Will the payoff be about accounting gone bad ? Will it be a Skilling and Lay standing in front of the mike picture with accompanying text ? No chance.Â
If we found the enron scam, I would push to tell the story with a flash animation parody of Skilling and Lay to Shaggies "It wasnt me" along side a Bethany McLean/Peter Elkind quality story. Just as the movie "Enron The Smartest Guys in the Room " told the story in a detailed and entertaining way, our goal will be to do the same.
Business is an easy place for me to start because the fraud and sithlord wannabes uncovered can not only create great stories of interest for the webite and HDNet World Report, but also allow me to buy and the sell the stocks of the company. A journalistic conflict you say ? Not any more. Not in this world. It will be fully disclosed and explained. This site is for the profit of its owners and we will buy and sell stocks that are discussed, before they are made available on the site. So make any decisions based on this information accordingly.
Facts are facts. Right is its own defense. If we can uncover companies whose stock is public and that can be bought or sold and that allows us to pay for more in depth research and effort. Im good with that.Â
HDNet news is also working on hiring the young and the restless to go out and produce stories that matter. Stories that have a payoff. Will we package them to reach a young audience ? Nope. HDNet isnt trolling to reduce the average age of our viewers. We dont care how old they are. We will produce news reports that matter to people of all ages. Our show Deadline is a nice little test with short , unique, irreverant stories coming from 30 plus stringers worldwide.
Journalism Matters. Im hoping the growing ignorance of this fact will make the news component of HDNet stronger and stronger and help us grow as a network
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If you are a journalism major that can uncover stories others cant find and tell them in a way that others want to read. Send me an email with samples.
Why Journalism Matters
Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. LoL, I want to see the flash animation parody of Skilling and Lay to Shaggies “It wasnt me”
Posted at 11:05AM on Aug 28th 2006 by Philip Chang
3. The premise does not work for sports reporting, though and that is why 'game oriented' sports journalism can't get beyond "The best we get in questions is “what happened coach ?” or prompts that the reporter hopes will result in someone getting in trouble “What did you think of the refs ?” " There is nothing that can be reviewed in oration that can that come close to capturing the significance of what transpires on the field/court/ice Reporters cannot coax it, players and coaches cannot describe it
Posted at 11:05AM on Aug 28th 2006 by Steve Murphy
4. The reason there is very little journalism is because TV has turned into infotainment. Why has this happen ? Because this is what makes money. Mark you make some very valid points but you fail to understand that most Americans simply don't care about or have time for journalism anymore. Most Americans don't get home by 6pm to watch the evening news like 20 years ago. Its become more a question of survival and working for a living. Its ironic you refer to Lay/Skilling. We may as well rename Wall Street to Fraud Street. I'm glad your trying to use to fortunes to change the world rather than perpetuate it. Unfortunately your votes for president in 2000 and 2004 didn't reflect your true values and created problems that necessitate even more change as we continue to head in the wrong direction as a nation. Maybe one day journalism will matter again to Americans but it probably won't be for another generation.
Posted at 11:05AM on Aug 28th 2006 by Sekar
5. Mark, I thought most of your post was right on. People my age (29) and younger don't want the same old tiredhead boring journalism of an ABC World News Tonight. We definitely want news with a payoff. I think this is why blog journalism is taking off. Just like some people gravitate towards Daily Kos or whatever, I'm happy to get most of my news through the filter of Michelle Malkin and Powerline and other conservative news blogs. I want my news with a slant (my slant - that's the payoff) - and I want to know up front what that slant is. I'm capable of figuring out the rest. Here's where I jump off though. I do have a problem with the premise of HDNet World Report and the conflict of interest. Just because you are up front about what you are doing doesn't change the fact that it brings into question the integrity of the journalism. Because you'll stand to make money off any accusations you make - regardless of whether or not they are accurate or fairly reported - I think it will be hard to trust the reporting to be just about uncovering fraud and not to be inventing fraud where none exists just to make a buck. Doesn't seem like there's an incentive to be truthful/fair if you stand to profit either way. Take the money making scheme out of the equation and I think it's a winner though. gSg
Posted at 11:05AM on Aug 28th 2006 by Robin
6. I think Sekar touched on it earlier, but I think that those of my generation (college-age) who bother to keep up with the news are put off with the blatant sensationalism promoted especially by cable news networks. The top stories on any given day, which range from celebrity idolatry to missing girls in Aruba, ultimately have little impact on our society, and on the psyche, and the viewers have become desensitized to the point of apathy about that which truly matters.
Posted at 11:05AM on Aug 28th 2006 by Dan
7. Mark, I agree with most of your points, its scary how few heavy hitting journalists are remaining. RSS or your "feed" will eventually shake this out. Once we pull all of our content through our filter of interest, we will have a direct effect on the news as well. Will "journalists" change their point of view because they get more subscriptions. RSS killed the newspaper star.
8. A couple points: 1) The "sizzle" on the steak of youth-oriented journalism is almost always loads of idealism. Although it's fresh and sometimes right, I just want the facts. Not Fox News or MSNBC hothead crap, just the facts. Attractive youth struggling with issues is on Real World. SO...how about an approach where HDnet, utilizing High Def expertise, offers something the tired old news hacks haven't utilized HD for yet? Just good news with a great Discovery-channel documentary quality presentation. 2) The stock activity/corporate insight angle at it's core isn't a conflict of interest. It's a breech of what has long been known as journalistic integrity. But that's ok. Propoganda machines are prevalent in history. Even today, late night TV has me pledging 1000s to missionaries, getting monthly colon cleanings, and buying books to cure cancer and hiccups at the same time. But those are cheap comparisons. It does sound like an entertaining blog (and HD show). But calling it journalism is a stretch--it's entertainment.
9. I think your points are dead on. I'm a journalism student at UT at Austin and even I get bored with some stories in the newspaper. Good luck with everything because it's true - journalism really does matter.
Posted at 11:05AM on Aug 28th 2006 by Mary
10. When you say the "only requirement is that they are equal parts journalist and adrenalin junkies" it makes me think of the fact that I must have numerous FireFox tabs open with sites like DiggDot.us, IMDbPro, and various news feeds so I can keep up on ALL of those everyday updates, ideas and endless media madness. There is so much going on around each and every corner that one simply cannot just tune into a favorite television channel and even begin to think he might possibly stay on top of all the necessary learning, investigating, thinking, pondering, politics, pop culture, media, evolution, gadgetry, music, news, film and mindless gossip required in this ever-deepening society. It won't slow down for any of us. Oh yeah, and we must also attempt to remain employed... Challenging, to say the very least.
11. Great blog Mr. Cuban. This is something that has been on my mind for a while. I reckon a lot of it has to do with the information age we live in. We all want things packaged, quick and conveniently served to us. Admittedly, the minute I know a Mavs game has finished I scour the net for any report I can find on it. I guess we are spoiled because we can easily access all this information. I believe our generation needs AND wants good journalism. Actually, now that we are on the topic it is not just journalism that we want AND need. TV, video games, globalisation and the likes are making carbon copies out of today's youth. I think we need to get away from all this convenience to save the next generation. I am not proposing anarchy a la Tyler Durden in Fight Club, but we need to move away from heavily corporate-driven societies.
Posted at 11:05AM on Aug 28th 2006 by Michael Schaefer
12. Right on, Mark.
Posted at 11:05AM on Aug 28th 2006 by Dawn
13. So you are ok with buying and selling stocks based on probable insider information that your investigative journalists will uncover? Interesting.
Posted at 11:05AM on Aug 28th 2006 by David
14. On sports writers as journalists - Aaron Brown spoke in front of my journalism class at the Evergreen State College back in the 80's. Aaron was then a Seattle news anchor. I remember vividly a question about sports journalism and Aaron's reply with a sneer "Well I'd hardly call them journalists."
Posted at 11:05AM on Aug 28th 2006 by Diane Ensey
15. M- It is about time someone with influence and some grey's (sorry their) realizes that the younger generation (i.e. <30) have wants, desires and needs that are more in depth than the eye candy baby food that is served up by the mainstream media. I truly believe that the younger generation needs to be given more opportunities to show there stuff. Bottom-line is that the younger generation is generall more informed, better read, and less easily swayed about major olitical issues. AND IT IS UNFORTUNATE that the mainstream media/politccal machine/influencers are not inviting young people to the table to give perspectives.
Posted at 11:05AM on Aug 28th 2006 by Andrew Cohen
16. why can howard stern say whatever he wants but mainstream news media outlets can't? they have to answer to the bottom line. as many have mentioned over the years, as long as news is a for-profit industry (not to mention part of a public company), news reporting is inherently flawed because of inevitable conflict of interests. would abc really report a story that discredits a report made by espn? or even one that criticizes their sponsors? the news for-profit business takes the "get the facts right"/objective journalism idealism right out of many reporters. like idealistic law school graduates suddenly numbed by the bombardment of gruntwork they suddenly have to do for partners, journalists catch on quick that they service their editors, and their editors' bosses care about ad space, advertisers, and the corporate bottom line, not to mention their own political leanings. in a perfect world the news would be non-profit and every story would have a point and counterpoint to give multiple persepectives/context. can this ever happen? we already have a non-profit -- pbs. but even they have critics, notably the recent complaints by republicans about left-leaning reports. so what to we do? get your news from multiple outlets and compare and contrast, then decide for yourself which story is compromised by conflicts/agenda. this is too much work for many of us, so we mostly read/watch news in line with our own political leanings -- basically drinking the cool aid from the tap. we live in the information age, which is great because we have more access to the truth, but it is also confusing because it allows for more disinformation than ever. there has to be a better way than the for-profit news business that exists in many places today.
Posted at 11:05AM on Aug 28th 2006 by db
17. When I see the chicks on the court interviewing players, coaches, etc. etc. I hit my MUTE button real fast and fill in the words, "So, what does your team need to do to win?" DER! MAKE MORE BASKETS! DEFENSE! "How do you feel about your loss?" IT SUCKS! I want them to ask stuff like, "So Kwame, you've been hanging around Kobe a little too long... RAPE CHARGES??? harharhar! Have you learned NOTHING?" Sure I'd be hated, but MAN I'd love to be on the floor asking my own kind of questions! There's a chick Rachel that covers basketball like she's reporting traffic on the evening news. BORING. No emotion attached, and so carefully enunciated I want to puke. Dick Vitale can be annoying, but I like how passionate he is. That would be me. Yelling away. Only the girl version of it. That's why I like Charles Barkley. Loved seeing him "interview" Kobe. I like how he doesn't always stay to what's "safe" and isn't afraid to call it like it is!
Posted at 11:05AM on Aug 28th 2006 by TOR PARKER
18. When's HDNet going to be available through Comcast?
Posted at 11:05AM on Aug 28th 2006 by Nate
19. As a former Dallas Morning News senior writer, an adjunct journalism instructor at SMU and independent communications consultant to some of this city's most respected organizations, I can tell you that Mr. Cuban's attack on journalists won't improve news coverage. Nor will his recipe for hiring young guns to report things that young readers will deem payoff. While the influx of young journalists is a welcome not to mention never-ending occurrence in journalism, the real problem is that the mits are off and the bottom-line obsessed media owners/managers have cut into the bone and much of the public doesn't seem to care enough to show that they do in fact value the kind of journalism Mr. Cuban touts (and, to his credit, is undertaking, based on his references herein.) The NYTimes reported last month that 2,000 newspaper jobs were eliminated in 2005. A few years earlier it was just 500. Today, you can find Pulitzer Prize- and other award-winning journalists in their 40s and 50s - not young - teaching at local colleges, going to law school or directing news in non-main stream publications such as the Fort Worth Weekly (two Pulitzer Prize winners there). Add to this the quality reporters laid off at our local paper and through out the country - the journalistically stellar Philadelphia Inquirer is on the chopping block and expected to be cut to bits because it's award-winning reporting doesn't pay news execs enough. This is the problem. And replacing all the older journalists with young whipper snappers might get you some good stories and lots of new energy but put my former colleagues in their 40s, 50s and 60s up against those kiddos and the quality of journalism would be incomparable. Journalists see the devastation that's going on but most do not. It's not as simple as sports writers who ask shallow questions, Mr. Cuban. -Kendall Anderson
Posted at 11:05AM on Aug 28th 2006 by K
20. Mark, I thoroughly enjoy your blog but I've got to disagree with you here. As a 28-year old that follows a wide range of both old and new media outlets, I believe that the largest problem plaguing journalists today is that there is too much blurring of the lines between reporting and agenda-driven opinion-making. Should journalists use their best efforts to hunt for the most relevant and important stories possible? Absolutely. However, as David stated above, the role of a journalist is to report the facts so that the viewer or reader is allowed to come up with his or her own opinion. The goal of every news gathering operation should be to eliminate any trace of bias or agenda-pushing from its reporting rather than to trumpet it. Opinion-based commentary on blogs and editorial pages can provide fantastic and engaging viewpoints. That commentary, however, should be distinct from the reporting function of a news organization. It's pretty easy to find people who can shout out their opinions or push their own agendas (case in point: I also have my own blog), but we desperately need true professional journalists who can filter through the biases to report the real facts. I hope we don't lose sight of the vital need for such reporting in the wake of the fervor to create more "exciting" news vehicles for young people.
Posted at 11:05AM on Aug 28th 2006 by Frank the Tank
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1. Without journalism so many of the important issues and events wouldn't be fully interpreted or understood. Journalism is a way to let the mind shape its own opinion on different topics instead of just being ignorant or indifferent to anything beyond basic topics. There are a lot of journalists who don't accomplish this and just relay information you already you know over again. Instead of criticizing a lot of journalists for not being a great athlete themsleves, be appreciative for their intriguing thought process that usually leads to you forming an opinion of your own, which accomplishes most writer's goal in the first place.
Posted at 11:05AM on Aug 28th 2006 by Ron Jumper