Before I even get started….
Many, many thanks to whoever thunk’d up livestreaming and archiving so many of the presentations! Had it not been for the availability of the presentations as archived recordings, I would only have been able to attend ONE panel during the entire week! Keep up the tech’!
Evan Smith (Texas Tribune) – “Why We Need Public-Supported Media”
I have watched Evan Smith’s Texas Monthly Talks, so I was already familiar with him, his work, and his style of interviewing/public speaking. (To me, his easy, conversational style is pleasant to watch - and wonderfully reminiscent of the style once used by Dick Cavett.) That The Texas Tribune was started as a groundbreaking, specific way of counteracting the decline of print journalism was something that I had apparently missed. The concept of journalism as a “public good” was refreshing. In contrast to much of the junk that is currently being passed off as news and printed/broadcast to the public, the Texas Tribune’s concept of news journalism as a “public good” represents a welcome real world refocus on Social Responsibility Theory of mass communication.
Evan Smith’s observation that formerly (in ‘old media’) “the act of publication ended with publication” and that now (with interactive, ‘new media’) “the act of publication begins with publication” was extremely well-stated. Journalistic output – because of its biases and perceived biases – has caused the profession to come under assault from all sides. The Texas Tribune’s stance that the medium’s job is not to further a particular worldview agenda, but to give its consumers something to think about is to be truly admired and emulated – not just news, but knowledge. I also appreciated Mr. Smith’s acknowledgement that Ted Nugent was a candid and informed interview – regardless of where one might stand in relation to “Uncle Ted’s” political views. (Ah! Objective, qualitative evaluation! So far, every interview I have ever seen of Ted Nugent seems to have provided the interviewer with a fun time.)
David Wayatt and Lauren Tuttle (Wayatt Brand) and Nick Weynand (Trademark Media) – “Social Graces: Understanding and communicating with clients, co-workers, audiences and the media”
The segment entitled "Social Graces" focused on the various social media that allow for (and actively promote) interactivity between media outlets and media consumers. The opening Fox4 segment featuring Clarice Tinsley (while funny) was wildly telling of what is occurring in the news world as it adjusts to the explosion in social media - the slapdash gathering of all sorts of related and unrelated information in the hopes of putting together something the public will swallow. (Furthermore, it was off-topic!) While watching this segment and listening to the panel discussion, it occurred to me that the panel format that had been chosen for this presentation (vis-à-vis not having chosen a single-presenter format) and the fact that the panelists were seated (legs crossed, leaning back) as they were speaking to the audience (more often, speaking to each other) was perhaps a bit too casual for my tastes. Though these individuals are certainly successful professionals in their field, their presentation almost seemed to be “ad libbed” most of the time. For me, this “talking off the top of their heads” tended to undermine the credibility of the content they were presenting.
As their topic was "Social Graces: Understanding and communicating with clients, co-workers, audiences, and the media," it seemed to me that they would have better served this specific topic with a presentation style that appealed to a wider range of listeners ("audiences") - not just those who showed up in shorts or pajamas. The topic was declared to be "understanding and communicating" - even within the wider environment of "Mass Comm Week," for Pete's sake! Shouldn't mass communication practitioners be concerned with the qualitative aspects of presentation? The panelists' lax demeanor worked at cross-purposes to the actual information they were conveying, and I felt as if I was eavesdropping on a chatty conversation in the employees' lounge rather than taking advantage of the knowledge and experience of professionals who are successfully making their mark in the industry.
[Perhaps this is generational – that people my age expect professionals to conduct themselves with a certain level of professional decorum. Or, maybe it’s just my expectation. Intentional, goal-oriented communication shouldn’t be a slouched affair. These days, most media consumers seem to believe that sports shows revolving around four grown men arguing with (often shouting at) one another constitute informative programming, when – in reality – these types of shows use up a great deal of airtime, but actually present very little solid information. CNN and FoxNews even use this format to present so-called “news,” where multiple windows of talking heads debate one another – again using up a great deal of airtime, but conveying few empirical facts. While unstructured panel discussions may be easy to throw together, they generally lack logical progressions of thought and content, and usually seem driven by an “oh-yeah-we-can-talk-about-this-too” motivation to fill the time allotted, which – for me, anyway – tends to undermine the validity of what the speaker is presenting, particularly when the declared topic is communication itself!]
Thom Singer (business development consultant/author) – “Some Assembly Required”
In contrast to the conversational presentation by Wayatt, Tuttle, and Waynand, Thom Singer’s presentation of information on how to “brand” or “market” one’s self was structured and clear, and used understandable, logical examples and metaphors to make his point(s). He was knowledgeable, articulate, and well-prepared – which are the very reasons he was sought out by employers each time he stood at the brink of unemployment. I appreciated his observation that the definition of the word "know" has changed in our society within the last two years - that we "know" people without actually "getting to know" people as a result of how social media have changed interpersonal relationships. As a result, "like" and "trust" have become (1) superficial and (2) (in their truest forms) rare.
Mr. Singer posits that intentional branding of one's self and consistency in all aspects of one's social interaction are the keys to self-promotion in the job market. For one to do what s/he says s/he will do is important. Building diverse friendships across the spectrum of humanity is also important, but clarifies that "the one place where there is no room for diversity is when it comes to character." (Well said!)
Rich Oppel spoke on several topics, one of which was the state of media in Texas: The reduction in press corps staffing (and the accompanying demise of the media's "watchdog" activities); the decline of corporate ownership (and the rise in individual ownership) of news media; the encroachment/domination of interactive media over what had traditionally been a print media news world; and the need for journalistic adeptness at using (and adapting to) new and interactive technologies.
Though the advertised topic of Mr. Oppel’s speech was “Dealing with the Media,” he barely seemed to touch on it, instead spending a significant amount of time talking about (and showing comic video segments from) the current election. Such confusion and wandering from the topic was unexpected from such a well-respected media professional.
Mr. Oppel states, “The real core the newspaper – of journalism - is great reporting.” I believe that - as we witness a significant “dumbing down” of American society as a whole - his advice to students that, “you need to know how to write” clearly, concisely, correctly, and with passion should be taken to heart by everyone, not just aspiring journalists. Furthermore, journalists should establish personal relationships with their sources and should develop good listening skills.
Michael Vivio (Austin American-Statesman) – “How We Survived Economic Uncertainty”
Having (so far) successfully guided the Austin American-Statesman through difficult times for the newspaper industry, Michael Vivio said that as market conditions became more severe his “most gratifying experience” at the Statesman was the intentional “valuing” of and retention of employees (combined with listening to the employees’ creative ideas), and that he realizes that the paper’s editorial content is its strong suit. A reduction in the number of pages in the paper has had no effect on its journalism; it has merely reduced the “fluff” (Mr. Vivio’s terminology).
Promoting a caring work environment, creativity, flexibility, and the willingness to be open to new ideas have been key to the Stateman’s success. Mr. Vivio embraces social media for the Statesman and even indicated interest in utilizing location-based Waze (http://www.waze.com/) as a way for the Statesman to reach out to, interact with, and establish a unique community of participatory readers. Plans for the future? Among others, the Statesman’s goal is to become the “ESPN of entertainment in Austin” – reaching young people through special events, publications, and Austin 360. The Statesman even plans to launch Internet radio station in December.
The subtext of what I saw …
A continuing, interlocking theme running throughout the different panels seemed to be that media and mass communication are in rapid flux – and that these changes are difficult to keep up with for professionals and the institutions they represent. (As a subtext to his main topic of personal branding, even Thom Singer’s refreshing presentation referenced how the technologically-based changes in social networking have altered the way in which people interact and how they perceive relationships with other people.)
Existing media institutions (1) are having difficulty keeping up with emerging technological innovations, and (2) are having difficulty continuing to derive an income stream from producing news content. Michael Vivio eloquently echoed the realization that journalism is being reinvented, largely as a result of new technologies, and that today’s Mass Communication students are on the cusp of great changes – many of which will be driven and directed by those very students. Rich Oppel’s references to Facebook’s takeover of interactive news dissemination between individuals served to further drive this point home.
Consumers have (thanks to media practices!) become accustomed to free, immediate news content The media have created their own, self-defeating crisis of news content that the consumers is “‘free and now’ versus ‘pay and later’” (as Evan Smith put it). As the Texas Tribune’s PBS-style membership system is innovative, interesting, and effective, it may catalyze a restructuring of the way media earn income from producing news content.
…and in Conclusion…
With the rapid advances in social media and tech applications, it is my hope that my introductory paragraph from this year’s post will be anachronistic by the time next year’s Mass Comm Week rolls around. Though I was able to follow many of the forums via video recording, career obligations prevented me from actually being present at any of them, and golden networking opportunities were lost. Perhaps by next year, though, there will be a social networking innovation that will allow even more active participation from those of us stuck at remote locations! I’m already looking forward to it.
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