Ten minutes, 129 questions.
They came from leaders of online news operations across the globe who are at Poynter this week trying to make sense of journalism online. When asked to write down their questions and concerns, they didn’t hold back.
The questions wrestled with media consumption, online ethics and user content. With social networking, online economics and managing priorities. With the “legacy” newsroom, usability and the future of journalism.
Here are the questions, in the participants’ words, that generated the most interest in the room:
- How do we convince print executives that the Web is valid?
- Can the same newsroom people do it all?
- Where are the lines drawn for ad and content placement?
- Is hyper-local news our savior?
- Should online editors adhere to a different standard for immediacy?
Does anyone have an online ethics guide? (Here’s an answer to this
one.)
- Can we give readers what they want without it being all Britney and police-chasing videos?
- What revenue models are showing the most promise?
- Are there any alternative revenue models or is it still eyeballs?
- What are the most time-tested constants of a well-designed Web page?
- Should news be edited or filtered?
- How do we increase citizen content/involvement beyond the small fraction of readers or audiences that are already involved?
- What if you spend 12 hours on a multimedia project that 1,000 people watch? Success? Failure?
- How can we be journalistic and entertaining in the new world?
- What’s next? What’s after blogs and social networks?
Over the next three days, they’ll try to come up with some answers. Check back to see what they learn. In the meantime, we know you’ve got questions, too. Maybe you even have some answers. Tell us what’s on your mind.
