From The Guardian Live Event Podcast in London this month, I spent more time tweeting the event than thinking about creative things to say about the decline of newspapers that hasn’t already been said a million times before.
A few random thoughts in a 140-like format from what the panelists and audience threw out during the event:
Ten metropolitan papers across the country may be closed by the end of the year in the U.S.
Subscribers are leaving papers, although they may choose to read it in a different format, perhaps on a kindle.
We learned about Michael Jackson’s death through Twitter.
We’re all the media now, but it’s important for us to make some distinctions.
The New York Times and other majors are not always right, but we create our own levels of credibility over time.
Now, it’s up to us as individuals to have better crap detectors, it’s important for that kind of media literacy to sink in with the general public.
Organizations like the BBC can hang onto their brand by not necessarily being first on a particular news story. Why leap on the news when there’s other important stuff to report on.
Talk about what you know now because that’s what you know now.
Once you press the button, you can’t change it. That’s why we have put six layers of safety around the production process.
The Telegraph has proved the value of exclusives. Exclusivity has a diminishing commodity value because of the nature of how quickly stories can get out there.
The thing about Twitter is that the barrier to entry has dropped to an SMS message.
The barrier is really low on Twitter – there’s actually a guy who’s building supply chain toys in China who is using Twitter.
The thing about Twitter is that it works on every phone. People in the developing world can get as much utility out of Twitter as we do because they can use it on their cell phones.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
