Get me rewrite—-in India!
Rarely a day goes by when I don’t come across some comment or article about the demise of the printed newspaper as we know it. Some are subtle references to the diminishing influence of dailies, others are more direct and to the point. The proliferation of such pieces has prompted me to create a folder on my desktop which I title “Newspapers: the next era”.
Yes, I refuse to use any negative language, even to label my own folders. I prefer to project into the future. Unquestionably, we are entering a new era for printed newspapers, and, in my view, it is not about their disappearance. More likely, it is going to be an era that will usher in dramatic changes in terms of frequency of circulation, format, and what we put into those columns of text.
Today, I present you two items of interest, both reflecting change for our dear printed products.
The first is by that always provocative columnist, Maureen Dowd, of The New York Times. In her column, Dowd writes about her encounter with James Macpherson, publisher of an online daily which he produces from his home in Pasadena, California. Macpherson refers to his product as “newspaperless” and says he is a pioneer in “glocal” news coverage. What this means, and the subject of Dowd’s column, is that Macpherson outsources local coverage to Indian journalists, whom he pays by the word, and which costs him much less than paying actual American reporters.
Thus the title of Maureen”s column, “Penny for my Thoughts?”. She wonders if someone in India will be able to write her column in the future, and goes one step further, interviewing one of the Indian journalists editing for Macpherson’s publication:
I checked in with one of his workers in Mysore City in southern India, 40-year-old G. Sreejayanthi, who puts together Pasadena events listings. She said she had a full-time job in India and didn’t think of herself as a journalist. “I try to do my best, which need not necessarily be correct always,” she wrote back. “Regarding Rose Bowl, my first thought was it was related to some food event but then found that is related to Sports field.”
Don’t worry, Maureen, I think nobody will be able to write your column but you. As for covering the Pasadena City Council from 12000 miles away, I have trouble imagining how this could be. However, Mr. Macpherson, the issue of outsourcing to India is not new for newspapers. I know of dailies in Dubai, for example, where the design and production of specific supplements is done in India, while the writing and editing is done in Dubai. It works. Also, some Spanish-language dailies in the United States, outsource certain pages to be designed by more cost effective designers in Latin America.
However, the thought of a reporter sitting in Chennai covering a Pasadena local event while munching on a juicy Alphonso mango is hard to grasp.
End of the film critics?
The second item of interest comes from legendary newspaper film critic Roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun Times who laments what he calls the imminent death of serious film critics. In Ebert’s view, , there is a sort of “CelebCult virus that is eating our culture alive”. In other words, what the industry wants is titillating gossip about celebrities, and not the detailed, thoughtful analysis that serious film critics offer. He mentions that the Associated Press, for example, has imposed a 500-word limit to all its entertainment writers.
A newspaper film critic is like a canary in a coal mine. When one croaks, get the hell out. The lengthening toll of former film critics acts as a poster child for the self-destruction of American newspapers, which once hoped to be more like the New York Times and now yearn to become more like the National Enquirer. We used to be the town crier. Now we are the neighborhood gossip.
Not so quick, Mr. Ebert. As one who reads your film reviews eagerly, I hope that your type of journalism will not disappear. And, in fact, I am happy to say that it is possible to find such journalism online, and even in some blogs where writers take the time to provide insightful reviews that run over 500 words.
For Maureen Dowd’s column:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/opinion/30dowd.html?scp=2&sq=Maureen%20Dowd&st=cse
For Roger Ebert’s column:
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/11/death_to_film_critics_long_liv.html
To read TheRodrigoFino blog, in Spanish, go:
https://garciamedia.com/latinamerica/blog/
In Goteborg, Sweden, where I work with the team from the Goteborgs Posten as we prepare to discuss the “weekend” newspaper the rest of this week.
TheMarioBlog posting #146