David Carr – Frontline Club

Content is King – David Carr in conversation with Richard Gizbert

Flora Carmichael — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 13:41:41 +0000

By Charlotte Eyre

Original and innovative content will remain the keystone of the news industry as the media machine progresses, David Carr said in a discussion with Richard Gizbert on Monday.

New York Times media industry columnist David Carr highlighted the problem of making journalism count in an increasingly digitalised industry when he was at the Frontline Club.

Talking to Richard Gizbert, who covers the media industry for Al Jazeera, Carr described how “the sky started falling in 2005”, when old-school media outlets were faced with a sharp change in the industry – notably the advent of digital coverage.

Carr, who writes about new technology such as the iPad in his weekly Media Equation column, outlined fears many have in the news industry: that online news outlets are leading to homogeneity.

“In future, all news sites will start to look the same with their audio content, their video content, their small type, their big type, etc,” he said, going on to warn that “brands such as Reuters and CNN will become nothing more than icons” on the screen.

The 24 hour news cycle is having a negative effect on depth and breadth of content, Carr argued:

“I’m too busy marketing and pimping,” he said. “What I’m doing is getting smaller and smaller. I worry that I can’t think in long sentences any more.”

However, innovative content will continue to garner attention, said Carr, who pointed out that newspapers can be curators, “as good as a curator as anything else”, of the “whooshing of information” online.

Hybrid news coverage is another way forward, he said, giving the example of the Texas Tribune, an independent news blog devoted to state government and public policy.

“When the Texas Tribune started up the local papers freaked out at first but now they are all collaborating,” he said.

Moving onto profitability, Carr dismissed the idea that investments from money men will support the industry long term.

“The problem is these guys hate losing money,” he said. “Look at Warren Buffett, he hates papers.”

All in all, the discussion between Carr and Gizbert highlighted how innovative content and finding a niche is what media industry players still need to do to stay alive in this challenging, changing era of news.

However, Carr’s description of the New York Times finding a ‘ledge’ rather than new ground is a pertinent analogy to remember. Media experts may have some idea about how the media world should move forwards but nobody has, as yet, come up with a definitive solution.

David Carr in conversation with Richard Gizbert: The media machine

Millicent Teasdale — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:30:00 +0000

https://soundcloud.com/frontlineclub/david-carr-in-conversation-1

David Carr has been writing about the media and its relationship with business, culture and governments for 25 years and has watched the print landscape change dramatically. Now a media and cultural columnist at the New York Times he writes the Media Equation column for the Monday Business section.

He will be joining us in conversation with Richard Gizbert, presenter of Al Jazeera English’s The Listening Post, a weekly show that looks at news coverage by the world’s media. Gizbert has also spent 25 years working in the media world as a foreign correspondent, covering stories around the world.

Drawing on their experiences working with two very different global media players, Carr and Gizbert will be discussing the future of the news industry.

From the future of newspapers like the New York Times and whether they can adapt quickly enough to survive to the emergence of new business models offering alternative sources of funding. They will be addressing some of the big questions that are exercising many minds within the media.

A remarkable opportunity to debate the future of the news industry with two of its key players.

That back to school feeling: talks and screenings to feed your mind in September

Julie Tomlin — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:28:14 +0000

There are plenty of talks and screenings at Frontline Club in September to get the grey matter going after the summer season.

At our First Wednesday Special, discuss the cultural and political changes set in motion by the events of 9/11 ten years ago and look ahead to the next decade.

We’ll also be discussing extremism, Somalia, photography in transit and the cult of youth in newspapers and there’s also a great opportunity to hear from industry veterans Martin Bell and the New York Times‘ David Carr and Richard Gizbert of Al Jazeera English.

Our screenings include a double bill of films by John D. McHugh, a special preview of The Debt, insight into the world of teenage miners in Bolivia and human trafficking in Nigeria.

Go to our website for further details of all the talks and screenings, PLUS a preview reading of Bang Bang Bang, a multimedia storytelling masterclass with Brian Storm and third party events on remembering 9/11 and on investigative journalism.

Follow us on Twitter and catch up on any events you missed on the Forum blog or download our podcasts on iTunes.

News Corp rounds on New York Times and WikiLeaks as Murdochs face questions over phonehacking

Julie Tomlin — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 10:59:22 +0000

A columnist at the Wall Street Journal has hit back at the New York Times for its critical coverage of its parent company News Corp, arguing that the damage caused by its publication of WikiLeaks’ documents "almost certainly exceeded" what was done by the News of the World.

The performance of James and Rupert Murdoch before the parliamentary committee yesterday will play out in the United States where allegations of payoffs to police could put News Corporation in violation laws prohibiting American firms bribing foreign officials. The US Justice Department is currently investigating.

There’s a blow by blow account here of the spat that began with a column by David Carr in Monday’s New York Times questioning the future of Rupert Murdoch and News Corps.

It continued yesterday with Bret Stephens comparing the publishing of Wikileaks to the News of the World in his column.

"Both, in short, are despicable instances of journalistic malpractice, for which some kind of price ought to be paid," he wrote.

Referring to the risks Zimbabwe’s prime minister and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai faced as a result of the release of diplomatic cables last year, Brett writes:

"Seen in this light, the damage caused by WikiLeaks almost certainly exceeded what was done by News of the World, precisely because Mr. Assange and his media enablers were targeting bigger -if often more vulnerable – game. The Obama administration went so far as to insist last year that WikiLeaks "[placed] at risk the lives of countless innocent individuals -from journalists to human rights activists to soldiers." Shouldn’t there be some accountability, or at least soul-searching, about this, too?"

Denying that his column was "shilling for Rupert Murdoch", Brett continues that he has "nothing but contempt for the hack journalism" of some of the Murdoch titles.

"But my contempt goes double for the self-appointed media paragons who saw little amiss with Mr. Assange and those who made common cause with him, and who now hypocritically talk about decency and standards. Their day of reckoning is yet to come."

Yesterday Rebekah Brooks sought to implicate The Guardian in widespread use of private detectives, claiming that the newspaper was top of a list published in 2006 (p11). In fact the daily newspaper was not on the list, although its sister paper The Observer, was ninth on the list below the News of the World, but above the Sun, with 103 transactions identified.

Our event next week looking at the phone hacking scandal, ethics and tabloid journalism is fully booked but you can watch it live here.