JD Lasica Archives: April 1999
Online News: An Evolving Medium
Online News Industry
The Internet news industry has undergone some major changes over the last five years.To discuss these changes is JD Lasica, new media columnist for the American Journalism Review and the Online Journalism Review. In addition to writing about online ethics for the Industry Standard newsweekly, Mr. Lasica is also managing editor of BabyCenter, an online resource for new and expectant parents.
The following are Mr. Lasica’s answers to 5 questions asked by the Online NewsHour.
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| How has the online news industry evolved over the last 5 years? Where is it going? | Five years ago, most people were just beginning to discover the Web, and the online news industry took notice not long after that. Early efforts were embarrassing, to put it kindly, with few publications that had even an inkling of understanding about the nature of Net culture. For the most part, old media was content to pour yesterday’s news, aptly called shovelware, into the digital abyss. Nobody read it — and deservedly so.
In the past two years, but the past year in particular, there’s been a turnaround. Some of traditional media’s biggest powerhouses, such as the New York Times and Chicago Tribune, now do a lot of original reporting on the Web. (Thankfully, we’re seeing an end to the nonsensical drivel about online news organizations “scooping themselves” with their online editions.) CNN Interactive and newcomer MSNBC are fighting it out for supremacy in traffic, drawing millions of visitors each month. And refreshingly, young online publications like Salon have provided important new voices to the news dialogue. |
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| How has the Internet changed the way people get their news? | Today news consumers have information flooding them from all directions. If television displaced newspapers as the medium people turn to for breaking news, the Net is the medium people turn to in order to get a richer news experience. That richness may come from the Net’s immediacy, which rivals broadcast’s; from its depth, for the news hole on the Net is limitless; and from its most powerful feature, interactivity, which online news organizations still haven’t grasped, much less exploited. On election night, I’ll have the TV turned to election coverage, but I’ll also be surfing the Web, accessing the races and results most important to me.
The Net, coupled with cable, talk radio, interview shows and the like, has created a 24-hour news cycle. It’s a cycle that’s increasingly out of the hands of the politicians, the spinmeisters, the PR professionals, and the news media themselves. Instead, amateur armchair journalists are sometimes calling the shots, and that’s a scary thing for professional journalists. It also imposes on the public a greater responsibility to be aware of and educated about the source of the news it receives. Not all news purveyors are trustworthy, and it’s critical that as news consumers we make distinctions about the sources of the news and information we come upon. Otherwise we’ll live in a news universe where bad information drives out the good. |
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| How have Internet-only publications fared (Salon, Slate, etc.)? | We’re still fairly early in this grand experiment. I think Salon has proved to be one of the singular success stories of the Web, for the breadth of its coverage, quality of its content, and the likelihood that it will succeed as a business. Slate had that opening, too, but has largely frittered away its chances by hewing too closely to the old media heritage of its editors and founders. (I worked for Microsoft as a journalist at the time Slate went to its subscription model and could only shake my head at the Redmond giant’s bumbling missteps.)
What’s disappointing is the lack of other new and vibrant voices on the Web. Feed is a good chronicler of social issues, Suck provides an occasional diversion, Wired News is still plugging away, ZDNet and CNet do a good job covering technology news. But we need to see more original voices. |
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| How has the Internet affected journalism as a whole? | It’s transformed our craft in new and extraordinary ways. We’re no longer the gatekeepers of information. The floodgates are open, and it’s up to us to try to make sense of it all. The Net is forcing us to be more relevant to our readers and viewers, more open and accessible, more trusting in the audience’s judgment, and more accountable — it’s much easier to ferret out deception, plagiarism and deceit in an interactive medium. I think the Net has also infused the profession with new excitement and vigor. Young people who are turned off by old media’s hierarchical, closed-to-new-ideas corporate culture are joining new media, whether it’s for the online arm of a traditional news organization, like Time Digital or Tampa Bay Online, or for a niche online publication like SonicNet or BabyCenter. It’s healthy and invigorating for journalism. |
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| Is there a discrepancy in editorial standards between Internet news and other mediums? | I truly believe that we can no more make a sweeping generalization about “Internet news” than we can about “print news” or “broadcast news.” Standards run the gamut in all media. I’m relieved and gladdened that traditionial media organizations like the NewsHour, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and the like have transferred their timeless values and standards onto the Web. And when Web upstarts like Salon or Wired News buck the conventional wisdom, sometimes it’s the status quo that needs reexamination.
As far as Matt Drudge, the conspiracy theorists and others are concerned, the Net is a big enough medium to accommodate all shades of reportage. Print has its tabloids, gossip columnists and anonymous sources. Broadcast has its invasive cameramen, live car chases and honoraria-taking talking heads. The Net has its share of abuses, too. But the democratizing of the news process will ultimately prove to be healthy not just for news consumers but for journalism as well. |
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported.
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Cool Web Tools
U.S. News, College Edge vie for supremacy in the education space
This column appeared April 13, 1999, in the Online Journalism Review. Here’s the version on the OJR site.
By J.D. Lasica
One of the fascinating battles shaping up in cyberspace pits an old media stalwart, U.S. News, against a new media upstart, College Edge. And as befits the topsy-turvy nature of the Web, they’ve formed a partnership with each other even as they’ve begun to duke it out for supremacy in the higher education space.
Their weapons of choice? Web tools.
College Edge: darling of the portals
For the moment, College Edge has forged a slight lead, attracting more than 1 million visitors a month. The San Francisco startup, launched in March 1996, describes itself as the Web’s most popular resource for college information and services.
“We provide information on every accredited college in the United States,” says Young Shin, chief executive officer of College Edge. “No one else offers the breadth and comprehensiveness that we deliver.”
On College Edge and its portal partners, users can research nearly 6,000 two-year, four-year and vocational colleges and graduate schools. And while its deep database is a major reason for its success, the site also offers several compelling tools:
• a “matchmaker” tool that helps students find the schools right for them;
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Conveying the war in human terms
The Net provides an alternative channel for finding out what’s happening in Serbia
This column appeared in the June 1999 issue of The American Journalism Review.
By J.D. Lasica
Posted April 10, 1999
Within a week of the first NATO bomb dropping on Serbia, the conflict in Kosovo had been dubbed the first Internet war. While that overstates the case, it’s not far from the truth.
Night after night the network news has offered a narrow prism of views along with those ubiquitous aerial photos of NATO’s bombing campaign. The Internet, conversely, has provided an alternative channel that offered deeper coverage, more interactivity and, most significantly, greater diversity of voices and viewpoints.
Internet users have tapped into the war in a number of ways:
• Web news outlets such as MSNBC, CNN.com and ABCNews.com offered breaking news stories, comprehensive background material, and compelling photos, video and audio from both Serbia and the refugee camps along the Kosovo border, along with reader chats and bulletin boards.
• Yugoslav and ethnic Albanian journalists broadcast breaking news from the scene, as the Internet turned small local radio stations into global beacons of information.
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Couples Baby Showers
Food, gifts, guys — and life advice for the new parents
By JD Lasica, BabyCenter managing editor
When our friend Catherine called and offered to host a baby shower, my six-months-pregnant wife knew me well enough to say, “JD will want to be a part of this, too.”
‘Twasn’t always so. Not long ago, baby showers were still deemed off-limits to men. The custom, after all, grew out of an era when midwives delivered most babies and women formed close bonds during the birthing process. Men at traditional baby showers? No, thank you, not with the field reports we got from the front lines suggesting rituals and practices that were, frankly, a little scary.
But times are changing – and so are baby showers.
What’s below:
• Baby showers — not just for women anymore
Baby showers — not just for women anymore
“We’re seeing a lot more coed showers these days,” says Melanie Mandracchia-Blakemore, banquet manager at Presidential Caterers in Norristown, Pennsylvania. “They tend to be like a small family party. There’s definitely less of an emphasis on games, on putting bows from the gifts on hats or doing some of the frilly things you see a lot of at women-only parties. At coed showers, it’s about catching up with family members or friends, and the food becomes the main issue. Don’t think you’ll get by with a chicken Caesar salad and a couple of finger foods — the guys like a big spread.”
Men at the new breed of baby showers? Absolutely. Just as men are active participants in childbirth classes and in the delivery room, many of us want to be at the table when the community comes together to celebrate a new life. It’s a rare opportunity to connect with our partner and our baby — to share our hopes, dreams, and fears in the company of friends and family.
A week before Catherine called, I’d attended my first coed baby shower and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. No paper hats or embarrassing party games. No herd of men retreating to a back room to watch sports or play poker. Just an informal Sunday afternoon affair with toddlers scampering about, a deli spread, cake, a memory book with wishes written by the guests, and the main event: Mike and Patty opening their haul.
The coed shower rulebook
What are the rules of a couples baby shower? Simple:
• If you really want the guys to show, don’t call it a Jack and Jill baby shower. Try this instead: “Power Shower.”
• Rope in a couple of male attendees early on. Trust me: No guy is going to attend a baby shower where he’s the only he. For advice on whom to invite, see our article on drawing up a guest list.
• Invite the couple to register for the baby shower at a store or online at BabyCenter’s easy-to-use Gift Registry.
• Make the invitations guy-friendly. Go easy on the pink. And give plenty of notice. Remember, we guys reserve most weekends to play with our power tools. See BabyCenter’s baby shower invitations article for types and timing of invitations.
• Pass on the party favors, unless it’s a small gathering. But whatever you decide, realize that most guys don’t find the idea of jellybeans in a baby bottle all that adorable.
• Games? If you do have them, make sure there’ll be games that guys will get into, too. We liked these reader suggestions.
• When it’s time to open gifts, make sure the couple opens them together or takes turns.
• Bring on the food!
We also invited our readers to offer suggestions based on their own experiences, and they came up with their own recommendations on couples baby showers.
Parenting advice from those in the know
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Have an opinion about this? At our shower, held a month before her due date, Mary put the kibosh on some of the more popular traditional shower games such as Guess the Girth. “Nobody’s gonna be measuring my belly,” she declared. So Catherine organized an early-evening party of hors d’oeuvres, wine, cake, and the main event: presents! We loved everything, from silly little Pooh shorts and crib light to the layettes, room monitor, playpen, crib, and darling bassinet. (You can see the linked items at the BabyCenter Store.)
But there should be more to this tradition than food, gift giving, and convivial conversation. Our host gathered the entire group in a circle in the living room and asked everyone to offer some words of wisdom to the new parents. The experience was moving, and instructive. Here’s what some of them told us:
Tony: “Don’t make the same mistake I did for six months after the baby was born. Once he’s here, remember to show up from work – at 5 p.m., not 8 p.m.”
Bill: “If you get a colicky baby, a million people will give you advice on how to make him sleep at night. Just remember one thing: There is no sure-fire cure, but time conquers all.”
Terri: “When you’re in the hospital and the family arrives and everyone’s making demands on you and the baby, remember one thing: This is your time, and they should respect that.”
Diane: “Nurture his creative side. Let him go after what he wants to do in his heart. If he wants to grow up to be an artist, support him in that. If he wants to go off to a different part of the world and become a musician, let him follow his bliss. Embrace his independence.”
Kevin: “Read to your children. I relish the time I spent reading with my two kids. You’ll read the same books over and over again with them, but boy, it’s a precious time.”
Jim: “Remember everything they do. We were just talking last night about who was funnier as a baby, Katie or Angela, because our oldest is very serious now and the youngest is just a laugh riot. But when they were babies, it was just the opposite: Katie loved nursery rhymes, and she loved to say, ‘Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a big fall, all the king’s horses, and all the king’s horses, couldn’t hump together.’ So, remember everything they say – and remind them when they get older.”
Peggy: “Give Bobby some music lessons, and take him to lots of ballgames. I loved going to ballgames as a kid and I still love seeing families with their kids at ballgames.”
