2012: “You don’t have to be a fucking psychic to see it”
Excuse me my French in the headline — but that is literally the last line of the comic strip above. I know the majority of readers can read Finnish, but those who cannot: the reference here is to the deals Sanoma Magazines Finland is trying to push thru. Loyal to the spirit of doing business in that company (Sanoma Corporation) they mailed these one-sided “we want everything / we will not pay for it / should the shit hit the fan, you are responsible” ‑deals as a Xmas presents to the people — sorry: not people but freelancers — working for them.
Instead of “Seasons Greetings” or “Merry Xmas” the message was: “Sign or you will not work for us. This is not negotiable”
Basically the content was the same as discussed e.g in my blog post What IF?
And by loyal I mean: Sanoma News (same corporation) did the same last summer in mid-June, knowing that everybody was going off to their annual holiday — i.e. just to make sure all the lawyers who might offer some counseling were not in the office (see blog post).
Aller (another publisher) missed the holidays two years ago, but timed it accurately so that the union lawyers were on holiday… (see blog post)
I mean, it would be funny coincidence… but it is not. It just another display of the ruthless attitude so prevalent presently.
Now: you think I will now whine and whine about how unfair this is… No, I am not. I try very hard not to.
All I ask you to do is to keep your eyes open and think for a while: is this really where we want our society to go? Seriously think about it.
Obviously, do not expect The National Daily (i.e. HS — part of Sanoma Corporation) to tell you about this — but look elsewhere for information. A good introductory article could be e.g. this one (Suomen Freelance Journalistit).
2011 — looking back
It has been my tradition to sort of summarize the past year and more importantly — to sort of try to see what the future will bring (ge’ez, how original… ;-) ) in the coming year. And then, at the end of the year, to see if my predictions were at all in the ballpark of what really happened…
Two years ago I said 2o10 would be remembered as the “year of the tablet”. Rumors were out about something called “iSlate” — which turned out to be an iPad — and I said it would totally rock our world. Do I have to say today: “What did I tell you…”
Year ago I said that 2011 would be remembered as the year when our legacy media either chose to understand what the revolution was all about — or slowly fade out to black by staying in their present state of denial, saying that the printed paper was the focus and the future to be…
Today we are living the first weeks of January 2012. We have one working daily news iPad app worth mentioning. Even that one has serious flaws (I have criticized it in some earlier posts: no social sharing, it requires constant online access for images do display, it’s extremely heavy, etc.) — but that is not my point today.
Point is: there is one such thing.
The others I have seen in this country… well, they do not really classify as iPad app’s, they are merely PDF-presentations of their printed product, simply generated by the CMS. Giving really no added value for the reader — at least no value anybody in their right mind should pay for. I have a bit of a dilemma starting to name them and pointing how bad they really are.… as both members of our family make their bread from this industry ;-)
But frankly: they suck.… (damn, I have to learn to control myself).
Seriously: maybe a good indicator of their value could be that when the University of Tampere published the first piece of their research on the journalism for the iPad/touch devices, they only counted one (HS) as an valid app. and disregarded the others as not such.
So, looking back now to 2011… I am sad to see the road the legacy print chose — as they went with the “let’s make our business more effective” ‑model by cut, cut,cut…
Staying in the comfort zone is nice (yes, that’s why it is called “the comfort zone”) — but it is very short sighted.
I will not argue this one further, but simply quote the most read blog in the world. Something to think about:
“It’s painful, expensive, time-consuming, stressful and ultimately pointless to work overtime to preserve your dying business model.
All the lobbying, the lawsuits, the ad campaigns and most of all, the hand-wringing, aren’t going to change anything at all. In fact, instead of postponing the outcome you fear, they probably accelerate it.
The history of media and technology is an endless series of failed rearguard actions as industry leaders attempt to solidify their positions on a bed of quicksand.
Again and again the winners are individuals and organizations that spot opportunities in the next thing, as opposed to those that would demonize, marginalize or illegalize (is that a word?) it. Breaking systems that benefit your customers is dumb. Taking money from lobbyists to break those systems is dumber still.”
— Seth Godin (in his blog) 18.1.2012 -
What we were seeing 2011 — and what we will be seeing in the legacy print now in 2012 — i.e demonstrations, plummeting circulation, lay-offs, forced early retirements, forced and aggressive rip-off deals to the creative talent …all this resulting a level of content approaching that of Berlusconi’s Italy — all of this afore mentioned is a result of behavior Seth Godin describes as ” painful, expensive, time-consuming, stressful and ultimately pointless”.
Let me take one sentence from that lengthy Godin quote:
“An endless series of failed rearguard actions as industry leaders
attempt to solidify their positions on a bed of quicksand.”
“Industry leaders…” The guys in ties. They know what they are doing, right?
No, the whole point is (should be clear by now): no they don’t.
2012: the brave new world…
Trouble is: in Finland we have this concept of “herran pelko” — i.e. sort of innate code of morals that the leaders are always right — I mean, that’s why they are the leaders, right? To lead us to the best possible outcome. And you should not question that, it is not correct behavior.
Even if what they say makes no sense at all.
I was reminded of this when I heard Mrs. Riitta Pollari, the CEO of Sanoma Magazines of Finland talk the other night about these “sign-or-you-are-out” ‑deals her company is pushing so aggressively. Among all the other things she let out of her mouth was: “It’s a fact that it is up to us — that is Sanomat — to try and keep up this status quo and prevent this coming some wild jungle” (My translation, direct quote can be heard e.g. here at c. 17:20)
I beg your pardon?
A thing my sister always used to say : “And who the fuck died and made you Grace Kelly?”
(And please note, that is no personal disrespect or foul language directly to mrs. Pollari — but merely severely questioning the values her company presents).
But Sanomat as the guardian of values and rules of the internet?
We Are in Good Hands
Anyway, this brought to mind all kinds of things what I have heard these media CEO’s letting out of their mouths just this past fall:
Mikael Pentikäinen ( editor-in-chief of Helsingin Sanomat) saying how Journalistiliitto (National Union of Journalists) cannot represent freelancers as they are not “people” — they are “incorporated”.
“All the material worth mentioning in the internet comes from the legacy print” — said Jaakko Rauramo (head of board Sanoma News) in an interview — in Helsingin Sanomat, naturally.
Thus the content of BBC or Yle — or Uusi Suomi for that matter — does not count as worth mentioning?
Jouko Jokinen (editor-in-chief of Aamulehti) — after Johanna Vehkoo published her book “Stop the press / Painokoneet Seis” — with a very dismissive tone in the main editorial of AL (24th October, if I remember correctly) said how “she really should have talked to people who understand these matters” and that “little crises is just good for the whole industry”. And how he has “so much faith in the new printing press which Alma-Media is just building and which he can see in the morning mist when he takes the train…” (something along those lines).
Then his (i.e. Jokinen’s) boss, mr. Kai Telanne who is the CEO of whole Alma-Media four days later in MTV3 news said that Alma-Media will in the future go “digital first” and that c. 3000 jobs might be in the line of fire… So the “sleepy new printing press in the morning mist thru the train window” ‑imagery kind of lost some of its luster right there.
And if not this was not confusing enough, I came across this Tedx Talk by Matti Posio - yet another figure in Alma-Media (former ed-in-chief in AL — if I understand correctly) — published about a year earlier — where he basically makes fun of the archaic attitudes of the print industry. No, this is no “Sanoma Muppets” ‑style funnies, but actually real content worth seeing. Starts kind of slowly, but absolutely illuminating 15min.of your time.
Just to make sure you understand the point: the last three dudes work for the same company. But it sure as hell does not sound like it.
Mr. Reenpää (head of board in Otavamedia — or Oravamedia as it is referred to nowadays in professional circles…) stating how “photography and layout are not really part of journalistic content but merely preliminary processes of the workflow”.
Duh?
Mr. Juha Blomster, the CEO of A‑lehdet (one of the biggest publishers in the country) giving an interview, saying that he did not know what the term “photojournalism” means. But he was intelligent enough to add that “he would write it down and look it up” (Link: Reenpää/Blomster in M&M).
He seriously said that. And no, he was NOT being sarcastic… I mean, what he said defines the term “brainfart”, doesn’t it?
And now the latest greatest hits i.e. listening to mrs. Pollari and the values of Sanoma Magazines of Finland.
Putting it in the most polite of words: kind of confusing, don’t you think?
Managers vs. Leaders
The picture emerging from all this is … well, something else than true leadership. It’s more like being totally lost, not knowing what to do…but making damn sure “we are no the worst losers on this”. Moneywise, that is. And that is — again — expressing it very, very politely.
I quoted Seth once in this post — and I will do it again. He makes an interesting distinction between “leaders” and “managers” (Oct 22, 2011):
“Managers work to get their employees to do what they did yesterday, but a little faster and a little cheaper.
Leaders, on the other hand, know where they’d like to go, but understand that they can’t get there without their tribe, without giving those they lead the tools to make something happen.
Managers want authority. Leaders take responsibility.
We need both. But we have to be careful not to confuse them. And it helps to remember that leaders are scarce and thus more valuable.”
I introduced you the managers above. Personally,I really would like to see some leaders. So far, haven’t seen any.
14 Replies to “2012: “You don’t have to be a fucking psychic to see it””
As I said in the previous discussion, I should be writing a book, so I jump on this topic immediately. Desperate to procrastinate? Yup.
For sport, I criticize both parties of this conflict. The discussion is too tactical when the situation would call for pretty grand strategy.
I planned to listen to that Riitta Pollari tape for a couple minutes to get the point, but I ended up listening to the entire half an hour tirade. My take home message was that it could have been recorded in the peace negotiations between the Talibans and the Americans. Taliban were pondering, should they burn the American flag with gasoline or diesel oil, and the Americans were hotly arguing whether they should air drop Penthouse- or Hustler-magazines over the tribal areas.
Both sides were pressing issues that make the other side go crazy. Why? The suits should know that the blue jeans crowd really like their “rights” and have done so for a couple of centuries now. But also the blue jeans people should know that the suits are really nervous about the value of their brands.
Ms. Pollari made clear that there is very limited secondary market for most content and practically no history of legal trouble for the journalists. One person in the audience pointed out that why should the company then need all these exclusive rights in the first place?
That was a good point, but then the audience seemed hostile when Pollari expressed her fears that people would sell similar content to two competing medias and thus make the original employer look bad.
I say these are both dumb arguments in a situation when the sky is falling over the entire industry. Nobody was talking about how to finance, say, three month work periods to investigate blockbuster scoops, or how the companies could afford to hire Kari Kuukka to teach EVERYBODY to create stuff for the iPad. How could the freelancers use their freedom to support the employer’s brand like Erkki Toivanen did for the Yleisradio, or how could the companies support the freelancers so they could find actually interesting things all over the world — like Yleisradio did for Erkki Toivanen. (Toivanen was a legendary tv- and radio journalist who continued to do great work as a freelancer after retiring.)
In other words, how could the companies and freelancers together create content and moral worth (re: the earlier discussion) that people want to pay money for? Now all I heard was heated arguing over what is basically just Dilbertian office politics.
As I said in the previous thread, I think that the structural change of the media has already happened — quite literally yesterday. You, Kari, saw it before most people and you saw it more clearly. Now it is over and done. Some dead men are still walking, but they are irrelevant. From now on, the topic changes to creating otaku for your ideas over the net and learning how to sell stuff for the iPad. You are doing both with this blog, so here is a tip of my hat.
PS. Two minutes ago Seth sent a Domino Project e‑mail, where he said that the iBook Author program will help people to print their content, but it will not help to “publish” it. He defined publishing as curating the content and getting it in front of the reader.
You know what? Seth is wrong. At this moment he is in danger of falling behind the times. He is protecting his turf as a publisher instead of seeing the sand shift under his feet. Verrry interesting…
A quick reply: the discussion JP is referring to is under the previous post — and I at least personally found it very interesting.
Yes, you are totally right: the industry — as it has been — is as good as dead. Remains some harvesting to do, some dead men are walking, as you point out — and that’s about it. The end. Le Fin in French.
The point I have been trying to make for the past two years is: This is not a crisis. This is a change. A structural change of gargantuan proportions. Call it revolution if you like.
The suits think that they can just pull the card “you know times are tough” forever… Yes, we know that. What are you going to do about it? Or: are you going to do anything about it. If not, get the f**k out. In more traditional language: where is your grassroots R&D? Is there any?
And yes; in order to be fair: I do acknowledge the amount of money poured into higher level research (e.g. the iPad research of Tampere is financed by Sanomat). But the research I am talking about is: what are the concrete elements, tools, methods we should focus on to make viable journalistic content in say 2015 — when many of the papers are not with us any more?
Maybe the suits of ALMA-media who were shown to the door couple of days ago should have asked this question? And I am not cracking any cheap jokes here — amongst them people I have considered personal friends and it is not my style to dance on anybody’s grave.
You are also right in saying that the blue jeans should do some rethinking. But here I suspect our thinking differs a bit: the blue jeans are the creative talent — at least some of them are. They might have something to offer. How about asking them for advice? Instead of saying “this is what we take and you shut the f… up. There are more people behind the door”. No, the suits treat the blue jeans dept. as “easily replaceable, harmless, gray biomass” — or something along those lines you once said. :-) Instead of them being the true source of talent worth following.
As you said — and I acknowledge: there is lot to hope for in the thinking department of the blue jeans guys. Most importantly: we are not going back to something called “normal”. Ever. There won’t be papers and their websites… as eventually, the physical paper will be a niche. There will be “media” — and my guess is that a touch device will be in the pole position on that one.
Somehow this has not sunk in. “They don’t understand…” “THEY” are not not important. And, no they don’t. They will not understand. So: are you going to teach them? Teach the suits how to do good journalism? You think they care? Good luck with that one… ;-)
Question is: what do we do next? Personally, I think I have it figured out… it just has to be put into practice. “DocGuys” — I love that one (FYI, JP came up with that term) — is a step to that direction. It’s not the solution, but the direction is right.
As to what come to Seth and iBooks… Too early to tell. I am experimenting with the program — yes, there is lot of potential. But also lots of pitfalls. See eg. paidContent and their critique (totally justified) that Apple did not mention yesterday, that you can only sell thru Apple.
But: it also shows that in this revolution media is just one player. The main change will come from education. When Emma, my daughter, now 7‑years old, enters the higher grades, she will no longer carry any books. She has an iPad in her back-pack. That’s totally obvious. And at seven, she is already totally at ease with it. Writes with it, draws with it.
However, this does not render pencil and paper obsolete. But this (the role of iPad in education) is too large an issue to discuss here… besides, it’s snowing outside, so I have to get back to reality and go and clear the driveway :-).
One thing I would like to mention before I sign off: I was going ape-shit for almost two years thinking “they just don’t understand, they just don’t understand…” I even approached several editors-in-chief trying to make them understand. Yes, naive me.
Then some time ago I talked with Mikael Jungner — I think I share a lot of opinions with him about this — and he said the smartest thing: “You know, one thing is certain. We should not worry about this. The revolution will come. It’s not up to us to arrange it. It will come. With or without us.”
And, he was right. Everything which is happening now is actually a symptom of that… But as in almost any (fatal) disease, the symptoms are painful.
»>Mikael Pentikäinen ( editor-in-chief of Helsingin Sanomat) saying how Journalistiliitto (National Union of Journalists) cannot represent freelancers as they are not “people” – they are “incorporated”.«<
As the son of a Jewish lawyer, I just don’t know where to start.
1) Corporations (ie, “the incorporated”) are entitled to legal representation, just as individuals are.
2) If corporations (ie, “the incorporated”) are not entitled to legal representation, then he is supporting a bunch of freeloading lawyers who claim to speak on behalf of Sanoma OY. Since deal memos are written by those lawyers, then they are null and void, since Sanoma OY (ie, “the incorporated”) have no legal right of representation.
Idiot.
Oops, I mean suit.
Yup -
but you know, law is a bit different here at the north pole. Meaning: it’s a trade union. So as a union, it cannot represent corporations, only people of flesh and blood.
Yes, big, frigging difference.…
I asked actually if the union lawyers would represent us with a nominal fee of say 1€/corporation (such as mine, who employs the three persons: me, myself and I…). They said yes, but that would be immediately considered as a cartel (is that correct term) and Sanomat would threat to sue immediately after that…
Ad the ACTA to this picture (you had your SOMA and PIPA — it’s basically the same thing in Europe and 22 countries including our beloved Finland already signed…) — and we are looking at a very interesting future when it comes to IPR-management…
Good seeing you again in the comments. Appreciate it.
K
See point number 2. That’s my point. Why may Sanoma have lawyers but other incorporated entities may not?
Also, we managed to shoot down SOPA and PIPA. More to come on that.
Our law says that corporations can not unite. Meaning each should be represented by a different lawyer — otherwise they will challenge and say it is a price cartel.
Sanomat naturally can have as many lawyers as they want…
Our society sucks donkey balls in this respect… but there is new legislation coming up now in the spring.
As to SOPA and PIPA. That was good. Needed to be shot down. I am really worried about that ACTA EU is building behind closed doors. People still have this fallacy that leaders (read: suits in big corporations) are working in the interest of general good.
As naive as it sounds, that is still the prevalent assumption among the general public.
If one thinks about great journalism – at least for me – it is the classic photographs that come first to my mind. Take this Wired article for example: http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2012/01/famous-photogs-pose-with-their-most-iconic-images/?viewall=true
Yeah, not part of the journalism. Right.
- “All the material worth mentioning in the internet comes from the legacy print”
Personal visit history of the last few days: Arstechnica, Guardian, Reddit, Vanity Fair, Wikipedia, The Atlantic, The Gray Lady, YLE, New Yorker etc. Curiously absent, quality internet material from Finnish legacy print houses. Also, curiously absent, shortened one paragraph articles at the sites I mentioned by name. ( Well, YLE has mostly at least two. )
Last point in Finnish, feeling a bit tired — sorry:
Itunes store myy nykyään vain DRM-vapaata musiikkia. Spotify sai ihmiset maksamaan taas musiikista ja ehkä saa reilun rojalti-jaonkin aikaiseksi jossain vaiheessa. Tutustuin hiljattain Elisa Kirja ‑palveluun ja ensimmäinen asia mitä minun halutaan tekevän on asentaa Adoben DRM-softa… ( Adoben! )
Siis Suomessa, lukemisen luvatussa maassa, kustantajat ovat ihan samalla tavalla pää pensaassa kuin muuallakin ja ilmeisesti tulkitsevat musiikkiteollisuuden Via Dolorosaa vain historialliseksi faktaksi. Digitaalisen sisältöpalvelun helppous ja laatu koskisivat vain muita aloja, kun halutaan ihmisten myös _maksavan_ sisällöstä.
Jokainen asiakas ei olekaan joku jolle halutaan tuottaa paras mahdollinen palvelu ja ollaan aidosti ylpeitä digitaalisesta tuotteesta, vaan epäilyttävä rikollinen kunnes toisin todistetaan.
Printtimedian suhtautuminen digitaaliseen sisältöön tuntuu hieman samanlaiselta. Ainakaan minulle ei tule fiilistä, että kaikki ovat innoistaan tuomassa parasta osaamistaan tehdäkseen tuotteen, joka on täysin vaivattomasti saatavilla ja jonka ihmisten halutaan ostavan. Missä on edes yksi suomalainen sanomalehti, joka päätti että verkkosivuja ei näytetäkään ilmaiseksi kaikille vaan vain tilaajille ja tehdään sinne printtitason resursseilla kamaa?
Niin, ja muuten markka (hah) vetoa, että kirjojen editointiin e‑kirja-muotoon mahd. hyvän ja virheettömän layoutin saamiseksi ei käytetä kustantajien puolesta paljon rahaa. Toiv. olen tosin väärässä.
-> http://www.lunascafe.org/2011/04/typography-is-about-reading-and-so-are.html
Tästä tuli aika kyyninen kommentti. Surullista on etten vain tiedä onko sen epärealistisen kyyninen. Kyynisyys tässä tapauksessa syntyy tosin välittämisestä.
Tuomas -
kiitos kommentista. Olet täsmälleen oikeassa ja kysyt oikeita kysymyksiä.
Pihalla kuin lintulaudat… vai miten se sanonta menee.
Luin tuossa joku päivä jotain juttua, jossa puhuttiin kymmenestä pahimmasta virheestä mitä voi tehdä, kun pyörittää/aloittaa businesta.
Ensimmäinen kohta tällä listalla oli: “Focusoi rahaan ja ansaitsemiseen”
Tätä tekee meidän legacy print. Mitä ja miten tää tuottaa? — kun oikea kysymys pitäisi olla: miten me tehdään tästä niin hieno, että ihmiset haluavat ostaa tän hinnalla millä hyvänsä?
Mieti Applea, joka on aivan törkeän kallis, suhteettoman kallis, katerakenne tekisi mieli sanoa exponentiallisesti suurempi kuin muilla — mutta joka toimii/on niin hyvä että ihmiset eivät harkitse kahta kertaa. Ja tämä ei ollut Applen ylistystä vaan esimerkki.
Sisältö edellä. Content is the King.
Noita hoetaan koko ajan. Näkis vaan jossain.…
Hämmentävän suuri osa ( ehkä tosin vain äänekäs vähemmistö ) selittää Applen menestystä omenakultilla ja sillä kuinka hyvä markkinoija ko. yritys on. Suomessa tosin Nokian romahdus selittänee osaa katkeruutta ja syylllistämismentaliteettia.
Mutta eikö ihminen joka näin analysoi Applen menestyksen vain tosiasiassa määrittele asiakkaat tyhmiksi ja helposti johdateltavissa oleviksi, pahoitellen lähinnä sitä ettei itse ole niin hyvä sitä käyttämään hyväksi. Eli että olisi olemassa oikopolku rikkauksiin, kunhan hyppää sen mahdollisimman hyvän tuotteen tekemisen yli. Ja hyvä tuote ei tarkoita jotain, mihin on vain koottu kaikki teknologia auringon alta.
Pitänee etsiä stressipallo jostain, on vain niin käsittämätöntä minusta kuluttajana, että meillä oli/on Nokia, huipputeknologinen paperiteollisuus, koko maa täynnä puhelimastoja, suositut kirjastot ja älyttömästi suomenkielistä sanomalehti/aikakausiteollisuutta ja paras mihin ne ovat pystyneet on pari elektronista julkaisua amerikkalaisen yrityksen täppärissä.
Hassua miten tästä ei voi kirjoittaa tulematta täyteen epätoivoa.
Tuote eli sisältö. Juuri näin. Applen menestyksen takana on kyllä poolopaita S Jobs — mutta hänen yksi nerokkaimpia vetojaan oli antaa t‑paita hemmolle nimeltä Jonathan Ive lähes rajoittamattomasti pelitilaa. Kuullostaa ehkä joskus, että edesmennyt Jobs vilahtelee minun kirjoituksissani turhankin usein, mutta rehellisesti ihminen jota todella katson ylöspäin on Jon Ive.
Väheksymättä insinöörejä — mutta tyypillisesti ‑ehkä yksinkertaistaen, sallittakoon — voisi sanoa, että he toteuttavat, mutta henkilöt kuten Ive luovat. Jobsin nerokkuus oli kyky seistä itse ‑yhtiönsä kanssa — tuossa risteyksessä josta puhuin tuossa seuraavassa jutussani.
Putosin ihan täysin tämän sinun viimeisen kappaleesi kohdolla:
Se on muuten oikeasti käsittämätöntä.
Kuten aiemminkin hienon blogisi parissa, olen seurannut tätä keskustelua sivusta kiinnostuneen kansalaisen roolissa. Tänään yllätyin lukiessani Hesarin pääkirjoitusta, jossa Paavo Rautio kertoo, kuinka sattumalta löysi vanhan leikekirjansa 90-luvulta ja jäi tutkimaan siinä ollutta juttua Paavo Väyrysestä:
“Leikekirjaan talletettu mustavalkoinen Helsingin Sanomien sivu tuoksui vanhalta painomusteelta ja paperi tuntui hauraalta. Sivun asettelu oli menneestä maailmasta: tarjolla oli valtava määrä tekstiä, ja haastattelu oli tehty kysymys–vastaus-periaatteella. Keskustaa koristi mustavalkoinen kuva, jossa mies istui televisiotuolissa ja piteli kirjaa.
Tämän näköistä pakettia ei lukijoille enää tarjota. Nyt pitää olla grafiikkoja, runsaasti kuvia ja pieniä juttuja, jotka asetellaan nätisti pääjuttua tukemaan ja lukijaa paapomaan.
Vanha lehden sivu toi mieleen ajan, jolloin haastattelu oli tehty. Maailman, joka ei ollut yhtä dynaaminen kuin nykyinen.”
HS siis selvästi ja suoraan toteaa, että ajat ovat muuttuneet ja visuaalisuudella on aivan eri lailla tärkeä rooli kuin ennen. Kuitenkin samaan aikaan tapahtuu kaikki se, mitä tässäkin blogissa on ruodittu: visuaalinen journalismi “ei ole ydinasia”, pitää tuottaa halvalla ja nopeasti, uuden median mahdollisuuksiin ei panosteta jne. Vaikka Hesarin pääkirjoitustoimittajakin toteaa, että aika on nyt “dynaamisempi” ja pitää olla “juttuja joilla paapoa lukijaa”. Toki tuossakin kirjoituksessa visuaalisuus esitetään ikäänkuin kuorrotuksena, jolla houkutella lukijan mielenkiinto, enemmän kuin itse sisältönä, jonakin, joka toimittaa viestin perille vakuuttavasti ja kiinnostavasti.
En ota kantaa visuaalisuus-teksti ‑vastakkainasetteluun, jos sellaista on syytä tehdä, mutta maamme valtamedian viimeaikaisissa viesteissä on havaittavissa ristiriita tältä osin.
Viime viikolla elämässäni alkoi uusi ajanjakso. Koko elämäni ajan meille on tullut sanomalehti, parhaimmillaan parikin, ja lehteä on luettu ahkerasti aamiaispöydässä. Kun sitten keski-ikäistyvänä muutin maalle ja aamun lehti kannetaan laatikkoon 300 metrin päähän, huomasin että yhä useammin haimme maanantai-iltana laatikosta viikonlopunkin lehdet. Ja totesin, että uutiset katsotaan televisiosta, aamiaispöydässä luetaan iPadejä ja kokouksissa selataan älypuhelimia, ja sanomalehdet kannetaan 10 km päähän keräyslaatikkoon lukemattomina.
Meille ei siis enää tule sanomalehteä. Mietin miten pienet lapsemme tämän kokevat, onko heillä jotenkin heikommat lähtökohdat, vai onko heille aikanaan itsestään selvää, että artikkelit ja informaatio saadaan sähköisistä lähteistä. Veikkaan jälkimmäistä.
Vaikka aamun uutiset luetaan iPadeiltä, se ei vähennä kuvien merkitystä, päin vastoin. Visuaalisuus on yhä tärkeämpää. Kun kuva pysäyttää, tulee luettua myös siihen liittyvä tarina. Tai huomio informaatiotulvassa kiinnittyy tiettyyn paikkaan. Tai kuva kiteyttää ajatuksen.
Onnittelut upeasta vaalikuvastasi! Vaikka en sitä lehdestä nähnytkään, täällä kuitenkin!
Susanna -
kiitos. Mulla on kaksi pientä lasta itselläni. Molemmat ovat aivan sinuja iPadin kanssa. Veikkaan, että kun vanhempi, nyt ekaluokkalainen astuu lukioon, niin laukussa ei ole enää yhtään kirjaa. Voi käydä nopeamminkin.
Hauskaa ja hienoa nähdä ajatuksesi kuvan merkityksestä (tarkoitan: kuulen ammattilaisten kommenteja päivittäin, mutta tämä on joten niin luonnollinen, rehellinen mitä sanot): kuvat oikeastaan näyttävät iPadillä paljon hienommalta ja kuvilla voidaan kertoa koko tarina alusta loppuun.
En tiedä, oletko lukenut tätä blogia paljonkin, mutta jos ei ole osunut silmiisi, niin vilaise http://www.docimages.fi ja siinä ne pari viimeistä työtä (minun oppilaitteni). Tuo on sellaista visuaalista journalismia, jota toivoisin tulevina vuosina näkeväni. Ja näyttää käsittämättömän hienolta juuri esim. iPad ruudulta.
Ah, ja kiitos ystävällisistä sanoistasi tuosta vaalikuvasta. Viime päivien tapahtumien varjossa se ja siihen johtava tarina saa ihan uusia ulottuvuuksia (viittaan siis tuohon kirjoitukseeni Koulukiusausta vai Kolonialismia). Isot mediatalot säästävät ja säästävät ja sisältö muuttuu harmaammaksi ja harmaammaksi… kun oikea ratkaisu olisi etsiä niitä helmiä joilla erotutaan massasta.
Tuomas — thanks for that link. No time to read it at the moment, but I’ll come back to it for sure.