(excerpts from an address by Christian Hendricks,
vice president of interactive media for the McClatchy Company,
given at the banquet that closed TEENWork 2000)

I've been asked to talk to you tonight about my perceptions of the impact "new media" has had and will have on the newspaper industry. I could keep this real short by simply saying, "A lot," and you could all go back to your rooms and watch movies and order room service.

 

We need to re-engineer our processes and rebuild our businesses to remain commercially viable.

But because I've never met a microphone I didn't like, and I came all the way from Sacramento just to speak to you, I'll choose the longer route and try to get you juiced about what may be the future of newspapers and journalism.

Before I begin, though, I'd like to run a thought by you that every budding journalist, editor, publisher and, yes, salesperson should strive to remember as they ponder a career in the newspaper industry. The democracy we enjoy is a very fragile thing.

Our newsrooms are one of the very few checks on government and the last collective effort trying to provide community "truth" and bind people across the world together. As a newspaper person, one of the personal missions you must accept is to - at all moments - work to protect our democracy by doing everything you can to continue the tradition of our newsrooms and stay relevant to a broad readership base.

Newspapers are the last medium reaching more than 50 percent of the population. We are the last mass medium. As such, we must accept this tremendous responsibility that comes with that.

When I came to the newspaper industry in 1990, the life of a newspaper person was pretty fat. Most newspapers enjoyed an unchallenged dominant position in the marketplace from a readership, circulation and advertising perspective.

Around 1993, that world began to change. A tiny little company from Virginia called America Online began to provide "instant" information and "connectivity" to consumers. For the first time, a large number of consumers could get news and information when they wanted it, rather than waiting for a news report on television or the newspaper to arrive on their doorstep.

They could also interact with the news and information by connecting, chatting or talking with people around the globe who had similar interests. The transformation of news and information consumption capabilities from an analog to a digital world had begun. Instant and interactive news was born.

Six years later, the newspaper industry has dramatically changed, as has almost every industry we know. The transition from an analog to digital world has resulted in interactivity becoming commonplace and expected, along with the creation of new information distribution channels for news and information consumption.

We've gone from an analog communications spectrum limited to telephone, fax, radio, television, cable and print to an unlimited digital spectrum that allows information to be distributed rapidly and efficiently through channels like the Internet, as well as wireless and satellite devices like PDAs and cellular phones. It seems like every day, a new device offering news and information is introduced to the marketplace.

So, what has this meant to newspapers and journalism? A lot. The truth is that:

We can no longer direct all of our core resources at the press. Multiple platform publishing is now and will become an even greater part of our core. We'll move stories not only in print, but also through audio (analog), wireless, e-mail, Web, television, cable, niche products, direct mail, fax, telephone and who knows how many other digital devices. The "never-ending story" becomes real. Answers to "I wonder what happened to ...?" will be available. Multiple distribution channels will allow for longer and extended story life.

We have come to realize that an ELE - extinction level event - could happen to the newspaper business.

Now there is competition that could seriously damage our ability to continue our mission. In short, we need to re-engineer our processes and rebuild our businesses to remain commercially viable. But it's not simply about the "money." We need to do this because the future is a world of:

  • Non-linear writing - journalist's approach to a story will be multimedia from the beginning, not as an afterthought as it is today.
  • Increased "local community" coverage - local sports, events, people, government, "the hood"... This is our bread and butter. This is our unique competitive advantage from a marketing standpoint and a never-changing part of our obligation from a journalism standpoint. For too long, we've relied on wire services and syndicated content to fill our pages. Now that commodity information is readily available through other distribution channels, the jig is up. To remain relevant and close to ever-changing "community binders" - the things that make a community what it is - we must and will increase local coverage.
  • Deeper analysis - There is already an information glut and it's not going to get better. Communities will need timely and accurate analysis of complex information and data. "Information is not knowledge." People will need assistance in this area from a trusted, reliable and credible source - the newspaper.
  • More specialists - Unlike the good old days when "a little knowledge was not just dangerous, it was a reporter," the future will require even greater expertise in coverage areas. People now have access to vast amounts of information and data once reserved for the "chosen few." This can and will be dangerous if journalists don't evolve from generalists to specialists.
  • Interactivity - Increased community connections and interaction. I believe the days of a "physical newsroom" are numbered. Journalists will be more involved in the community than ever before. Journalists will become community dialogue facilitators. People have always wanted to interact with the media. The proof is talk radio - although it seems like a place where like-minded people pool their ignorance. The digital world allows for this dialogue. We therefore engage it.

While our processes, business models and distribution channels will change, our core mission will not.

  

In closing, I'd like to point out that while our processes, business models and distribution channels will change, our core mission will not. We must remain watchdogs of government and serve our communities with the public's best interest always in our minds and hearts. This will not and must not change. For if it does, I believe so does the chance for continued freedom of the press, freedom of speech and our democracy.

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