Karl Schneider, editorial director of Reed Business Information, home to a number of different print publications, was at our university yesterday for an hour-long talk and Q&A session. It was a very interesting listen that I found useful in parts. These were my highlights from that talk (as many as I can remember anyway):
- Journalists who want to get into the industry should start using things like blogging and Twitter right now.
- He described interactivity as the most fundamental and important characteristic of web journalism.
- Schneider thinks that print will eventually go away but there is still a lot of life in the format and there are still advantages that print has. He said though that everything Reed does in print will be online in a decade.
- He expressed scepticism about the recent plans of Rupert Murdoch – charging for news – that have sparked massive debate in the industry. I have a long blog entry in me somewhere about Murdoch that I will get out of my system soon.
But perhaps the point that stuck out most was that there is no straightforward path as to how to make a viable model for online journalism. He stressed to us that this is our playground and we are free to experiment as we so wish until we find something that works. It’s a true statement, although finder a concise solution isn’t helped by the constant developments of new media. It’s a time to be excited, not scared.
Again, sorry I’ve not blogged as much recently but I’ve been mega busy recently. Now that my schedules are now relaxed and I have the time and energy to write stuff down I’ll try and update more.
