Smarter publishing models

Journalism matters. The free press is important to a functioning democracy. Journalism has the power to change the world.

Yes, I did know the aforementioned points, thanks to my years in newsrooms and formal journalism training, but I didn’t realize that technologists were struggling to understand why the digital transition has been so painful for newspapers and magazines. The idea that, while the internet has been totally rockin’ for writers, designers and publishers as well as for readers and audience, introducing incomprehensible potential for new storytelling techniques, communication and ways to connect … its effect on the traditional publishing business models has been a giant suck-fest.

This is a point beautifully drawn in an A List Apart article from David Sleight, a highly respected designer, strategist, and consultant. In his explanation, Sleight puts forth a strong argument about why future-friendly publishing business models need to create more distance from their presentation layers.… Unlike our current models in which journalism’s revenue is deeply entangled in how content is presented.

Evening Edition

My favorite story from the past year is how Mule Design Studio came to launching Evening Edition, a daily, “succinct summary of the day’s most important news” which provides an overview of the news and links to original reporting. This idea was inspired by a Twitter exchange… Awesome. They launched in July in partnership with Mother Jones, and are currently sustaining themselves on a sponsorship model. Plus, the team is currently seeking an East Coast editor, so apparently they are still growing.

Evening Edition is creative solution to the “fitting news into pockets of time in our day” problem that we’re all wrestling.

Soundslice

I have high expectations for Adrian Holovaty’s new project—Soundslice—which seems full of potential for highly creative, outside-the-box storytelling. While the tool is intended to help musicians learn to play the guitar by allowing users to create guitar tablatures from YouTube videos of music performances, it seems like it is only a matter of time before someone applies the idea to another type of YouTube video content.

A tool that allows users to annotate sound has many potential uses for audio storytellers on the internet, especially if it’s used in some form of “teach me something” journalism.

Nieman Lab’s Back to School

Nieman Lab taking on journalism education this year was all sorts of awesome. Its no secret, I am generally disappointed with the lack of preparation programs offer journalism students who are entering their professional lives.

I worry that today’s journalism and communications graduates are still afraid of the internet. In my experience, most recent graduates barely understand how the internet works, the medium’s constraints or how to communicate effectively with technologists.

Understanding our medium makes us better storytellers.

MozFest

Finally, the Mozilla Festival in London, this November was a highlight in my year. This incredible event, hosted by the Mozilla Foundation, is in its third year and intends to motivate an entire generation of web makers. At Knight Lab, we say “there is no such thing as too ambitious” so, naturally, we find the MozFest think-tank to be kindred.

That weekend, the energy inside Ravensbourne was magical; from inspiring the non-technical-types to participate to providing an open place for developers/designers/engineers to engage-in and share their projects, every attended seemed to have a voice. My inner news nerd leapt at the opportunity for complete immersion in deep thinking on election-related news apps and tools, something that I continue to miss since my departing the daily news cycle.

We had a phenomenal trip, and we’ve already begun our plans to participate in 2013.