Charting a New Future: An Executive Summary
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“No society in history has ever existed without storytelling.
[Journalists] tell stories that are true and important. Sure,
there may be many distinctions between professionals and
amateurs, between breaking news and follow up pieces,
between long or short, and so forth. But these are just artifacts
of production methods rather than deep truths. And we have
to have truth tellers.” – Clay Shirky
Journalists and independent media makers will always be society’s most valuable truth tellers. However, the old media system that historically supported them is melting away. Some outlets have succumbed to the old system’s big thaw and shut down or drastically cut news operations. Others have made small changes to their journalism and business models that will keep them afloat one more day.
The Big Thaw: Charting a New Future for Journalism focuses on how independent media organizations can navigate the currents of change to reach higher ground over the long term.
“While changes to the news industry advanced at a glacial
pace for many years, [...] transition can come as quickly as the
levees that broke in New Orleans. Trigger events cause
sudden floods before a new system is in place to prevent it.
News organizations are facing flash floods and many are in
a mode akin to sudden-death, wilderness survival. Laurence
Gonzalez, in his book, Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies,
and Why, explained that those people who most quickly
surrender to their new circumstances, take decisive action, and
believe anything is possible are the ones most likely to
survive. Each independent media organization must answer
two questions in order to survive, ‘What will you be standing
on when the flood reaches you?’ and ‘How will you boldly
move to higher ground?’” – The Big Thaw, Vol. 1, p12
Although many see this moment as a meltdown, it is an opportunity. Much like the annual flooding of the Nile, media’s big thaw has the potential to revitalize the landscape. Our means of using information are changing, and great opportunities lie ahead.
- Mobile devices are transforming our relationships with people, events and places.
- Everyone can gather, share and produce news.
- U.S. demographics and global audiences are revolutionizing the media marketplace.
- New types of media-makers are pursuing journalism’s public-service aim in brand new ways.
Between 2008-09, The Media Consortium (TMC), a network of 45 leading independent media organizations, conducted a Game Changer Strategy Project that resulted in The Big Thaw. A broad array of information was collected via scenario building, member surveys, interviews with outside thought-leaders and a scan of current reporting and commentary. The project’s goal was to enable TMC and its members to make bold moves that increase their impact and influence by reaching five times their current collective audience within the next five years. A proxy for TMC’s collective online reach as of June 2009 was 18.5 million monthly website visits.
For decades, progressive media has provided quality reporting, deep investigative journalism and lifted voices ignored by mainstream media. While journalists cannot preserve the old media system, they can deepen their legacy of truth telling and fighting for justice—but only with a new strategic vision.
This blog is an excerpt from The Big Thaw, a guide to the evolution of independent media, written by Tony Deifell of Q Media Labs and produced by The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets. Learn how your organization can use this report. For more information and recommendations from the study, click here.
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