Nobody working in the media could judge 2008 as anything other than a grim year but it’s been interesting to see that December has brought with it some optimistic voices.
Are these the green shoots of journalistic resurgence? Maybe the never ending diet of job loss, closure and “death of” stories has run it’s course (for now).
Here’s some cheer to end the year;
The Carnival of Journalism has picked out some positive messages for 2009.
A raft of contributions include Andy Dickinson’s prediction the the new year will be the year of the journalist and Jack Lail asserting that the talented will succeed (even if he does decorate his blog with a picture for the Great Depression!).
The Guardian Media Group’s Simon Waldman argues that this is the time for the Great British Media Brand.
“Strong brands, with engaged audiences make the best advertising environment. None of us can claim exclusive access to an audience any more – there are too many alternatives. As a result, we have to compete not just on the scale of our audience, but the depth of our relationship with them – ideally on as many different levels as possible.
“And, on a broader scale – the economy needs us. We hardly manufacture anything any more. And now that the financial services sector are either on their knees or owned by the state – the creative industries are frankly the best hope any government has of a good news story”.
And it’s not all about the big boys, interesting to see that quite a few people thinking along the same lines as myself in the Journalism.co.uk predictions for 2009 in pinpointing hyperlocal as a growth area for next year.
Vincent Maher, portfolio manager for social media at Vodacom and formerly of South Africa’s Mail&Guardian (@vincent_maher):
Tom Watson, Labour MP for West Bromwich (@tom_watson):
So, here’s to 2009 folks!
Dim Sum Digital 
I was talking to a journalist from the London Evening Standard at the weekend who said that every Friday there is a heart-stopper at the moment, as it seems to be the day when more people are told they no longer have a job.
But how many times has an industry been diagnosed as “dead”, only to return in a different or evolved form?
People feared the loss of storytelling when the oral tradition was replaced by the written word, but the appetite to know what’s going on around us and share it remains to this day. It’s the delivery of that content that has to change, but the skills needed to produce it are as vital as ever.
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I was talking to a journalist from the London Evening Standard at the weekend who said that every Friday there is a heart-stopper at the moment, as it seems to be the day when more people are told they no longer have a job.
But how many times has an industry been diagnosed as “dead”, only to return in a different or evolved form?
People feared the loss of storytelling when the oral tradition was replaced by the written word, but the appetite to know what’s going on around us and share it remains to this day. It’s the delivery of that content that has to change, but the skills needed to produce it are as vital as ever.
LikeLike