ARE BLOGGERS JOURNALISTS? What is your take on this?

I think journalists often overlook the fact that the physical paper is an information appliance that does not critically depend on stories to create a good customer experience.

I think it would help, if “readers” were replaced by”viewers” when thinking about news-on-paper. Very few people read most of the stories in printed newspaper. In fact, very few people make the time to read anything. In any case, the viewer-to-reader transition is very similar for the web and print.

The difference is based on the nature of the media. They search the web. They scan print.

If something catches their interest, they stop, read the subhead. If still interesting they read the lede. If still interesting, they read the next paragraph. It’s less trackable than the same activity on the web, but in it’s fundamentals, they are both a series of micro decisions in the form of “go or no-go.”

The magic moment is when a viewer stops making those micro decisions. Instead they are “carried along” by the story itself. It’s how I think about the “timeless” experience created by great stories.

The advantage of print is that the words and pictures are still there when the viewer next has time to engage. It also makes it much easier for non-path defined scans. Let’s say that the cost of engagement is measured by viewer attention given. In that sense, the cost of engagement with print is much lower than the cost of engagement with the web. It’s easier to scan then it is to search

The disadvantages of print have been well described in terms of money, collaboration and speed. If we get past the “baby and bath water” situation, it will be easier to use the advantages of both print and web, so that 1+1 can equal 3.

tedzsr rizky hamid (1071118763)