🗞️Context Collapse: Journalism Is A Flaming Money Pit. WTF Now? Part 2
Old media's gone, new media's dying, the creators will inherit the earth. CC #279
In this issue: The journalism torch passes from big institutions to small creators, which is alternately great and shitty.
Welcome to Context Collapse, the world’s best comms newsletter. I’m Neal Ungerleider. I run Ungerleider Works and used to work as a reporter for Fast Company, write op-eds for the LA Times, and work as a senior copywriter for R/GA. This newsletter helps readers navigate the weird new world of media and gleefully ignores all the conventional wisdom about journalism, public relations, marketing, and advertising.
In our last installment, we talked about why some very dumb business decisions across the industry led many newspapers, magazines and other news outlets into the land of severe economic problems.
Today let’s talk about the flip side of the equation: Journalists themselves.
Once upon a time, the journalist pipeline was wide open. Local newspapers in small markets had lots of openings. Local television stations in small markets had lots of openings. You could work your way up, pay was competitive and a major market newspaper like the San Francisco Chronicle would have bureaus around the world and a huge Sunday edition thick with advertising.
Nowadays journalism jobs are fewer in between and pay a lot less. The internet and the digital media ecosystem reward two things:
a) Economics of sale
b) Platform
The first one means that a handful of news outlets like the New York Times and Wall Street Journal have disproportionate global market share. The second one means that algorithm-based platforms such as Facebook/Instagram, Twitter/X, YouTube and TikTok perform an editorial role (selection of stories audiences see, etc.) that was previously handled by human beings at media outlets.
This leads to a vastly changed environment for making journalism.
1. What Social Media And Video Platforms Do Well
Once upon a time, you’d have to open a travel magazine or buy a travel guide to hear about cool restaurants in London. A long time ago, the only way to find out what movies were playing was to call the movie theater or pick up a newspaper. Not too long ago, making your own talk show would require long afternoons at the public access station.
But these days, if you want to make or consume anything related to culture, trends, political analysis or op-ed, you turn to social media or the internet.
I can open TikTok and see thousands of videos about what restaurants in London people are going to in 2024. Reddit’s better than any old-fashioned advice column. I can visit Google or my theater’s website to find out what’s playing (if I’m not streaming from home) and instantly see trailers or reviews on YouTube. If I want political arguments, fire up X or YouTube and put that stodgy newspaper op-ed section away.
If you’re a young journalist who’s interested in culture or politics who hits these beats:
1) Even slightly interesting
2) Has a decent sense for business
3) Willingness to learn new skills
4) Dedicated work ethic
You’re much better served becoming an indie content creator than getting a full-time job as a journalist at a media outlet.
But…
2. What Social Media And Video Platforms Don’t Do Well
There’s a lot of journalism that involves uncovering corruption or other sensitive topics—whether local, regional, national or international—and which requires lots of research topics. This kind of coverage usually involves making things public that people don’t want public, and often puts reporters at risk of lawsuits.
Journalists working as employees at larger media outlets have access to legal support and an institutional hierarchy that makes it possible to support coverage on topics like these. However, indie creators put themselves at risk of career-ending legal costs if they become independent investigative journalists.
Furthermore, there’s a lot of coverage which isn’t necessarily legal risk-y and falls firmly into the “boring but important” category. Local politics and news coverage. Many forms of business journalism. Many forms of trade journalism. Lots and lots of foreign coverage and lots of stories that require time and resources to cover. An indie creator covering these areas will have a hard time paying the bills. That’s why larger media outlets have traditionally subsidized these coverage areas.
Finally, there are many areas of coverage which put creators at risk of falling afoul of keyword blocks or demonetization schemes on social platforms. These areas necessitate coverage by larger outlets.
3. Towards A 2025+ Journalism Game Plan
Holy crap, it’s 2024 already. I really don’t see an end to the bloodletting at local newspapers and tv stations, or an end to the number of digital media outlets turning themselves into SEO churn mills in a mad quest to capture pennies on the dollar digital ad revenue.
But with that said, I’m strangely optimistic for the journalism of the future. I don’t think rich philanthropists are the future of media ownership and the idea of government funded grants for media outlets is just wishful thinking (unless federal or state governments want to help ensure positive press coverage through funding with lots of strings attached. wouldn’t put it past quite a few politicians…).
I think that we’re going to see a much larger convergence between television, the web, digital video, social media, podcasts, radio, gaming and motion pictures in the next decade. This convergence will create new forms of media—shades of the 2000s again!—and with it, sustainable membership- and advertising- based revenue opportunities for both media survivors and new upstarts.
Right now, my genuine suspicion is that we’re in the crap valley between two eras of increased ad revenue for news outlets. We’re going to see YouTube, TikTok, RSS for podcasts and existing social media platforms become the new way we consume news—and there will be new ways for media outlets and creators to make cash money alongside it. Not now, but later.
In our next article: Part 3.