COMMENT: Online journalism is all about the fish you throw back

Great insight – thanks for sharing guys.

I think that nicely sums up the dilemma of any blogger/journalist. There’s that ever present effort/reward paradigm that seems to emphatically mirror real life.

Keep fishin Tim. You’re on a winner. Tight lines!

You must be doing well now Tim as you have pissed off Laurel on her latest blog post (is there anyone she isn’t angry with?)

Congrats on the early success Tim and identifying the glaring gap in the local market. While the RSS tends to gather a bit of dust these days, Mumbrella is one I still try to get to regularly.

Good work Tim – glad to hear you can take it full time to see it bigger than ever. Nice one.

Great article Tim. Insightful and educational. You have been a great addition to my reading list and the adland media.

Best…Stan

Let’s be honest mate, until you can find a way to incorporate footy news and racing tips Mumbrella will never be taken seriously. Especially by Queensland island caretakers.

Completely agree with your take – great insight. With information becoming ubiquitous, the “sort” is becoming the real value add, not just the “catch”.

Congrats on Mumbrella’s success, and interesting reading your take on online journalism.

Congrats on a great site. I get a lot of crap in my inbox, but I always look for your email update. Good luck with everything.

Keep up the good work, Tim!

Hi Tim – your’e spot on with the fishing analogy, as a reader/subscriber I don’t always want to have to browse through reams of articles with the same news being reported on across x amount of different enewsletters and feeds etc – I just want to know about what’s interesting today and I trust Mumbrella to find something different, entertaining and relevant for me.

great analogy Tim and great that you may start to make some money. well done. just a note on the journo’s task: it has always been about sorting and throwing out the rubbish, as well as crafting and serving the good catch.

Gotta love a good piscatorial analogy Tim! I agree with your thinking 100% (and that’s coming from an ex-journo).

As news becomes more and more commoditized (and speed to market becomes mind-numbingly quick), newspapers and magazines – for example -need to re-think their offering/s.

Personally, I think print/online media combos (and bloggers) are really well-positioned to add value in terms of exclusives (news), depth (opinion) and colour (features).

In a constant and swirling sea (excuse pun) of bite-sized nuggets of information (news), what sets writers/media outlets apart is the ability to add genuine value through analysis, comment, review and breaking (as opposed to regurgitated) news, as well as lively interaction with readers (the latter being a key point of differentiation between bloggers and traditional news outlets).

Of course, all this requires a change of mind-set for traditional journalists/media operators, as well as an ability to focus (or throw back the small fish, as you so eloquently put it).

Despite my somewhat negative comments on some posts, I really enjoy your enewsletters and find them the most relevant and insightful of all. And being in the advertising industry – I completley understand (and don’t mind) that your revenue must come from advertising.

Thanks and keep up the great work!
Cheers
Lisa

Tim – congrats on getting cashed up! Your piece here reminds me of the role of department stores vs boutique stores. The buyers have to select product that will appeal to their shoppers. And when the stock runs short… or when the retailer says they’re not going to bother stocking many SKUs, shoppers move on to the store with the better selection. Maybe I’m spending too much time working with retailers these days! In short, am enjoying your selection of stories. Ta. J

Reminds me Tim, I need to learn fishing. Half of your mumbo jumbo went over my head like the bream smell at Sunnybank Hills fish market.

I am a recent convert to Brisbane from two months, so excuse my ranting. Good show mate – from a two month old to a three month old!

Congratulations, Tim. To get that kind of audience after three months in the Australian market, without SEO trickery or zillions of banner ads, is pretty good!

Cheers, Chris

There’s a wider point here; what we’re losing in an age of fast aggregated online news and opinionated bloggers. That is, editorial judgement: the skill of taking an event and putting it in context, and then ordering it among other events of the day.

Some may say it’s liberating to be free of editors deciding what they think we should read. I reckon what we will really mourn with the death of newspapers is the death of an editorial-based package of information; information that journalists have applied journalism to, putting the news of the day in order and context.

I tried to make the point here: http://importanceofideas.com/2.....ournalism/

As you rightly say: “The job is no longer to gather every speck of information for the reader and give them everything – it’s the opposite, to try to understand what may interest the reader, and make active decisions what not to write about. Those who know their reader’s interests best are rewarded with their trust and attention – whether in print or online.”

Let’s hope online produces a model that allows for this: traditional impartial journalism (or at least separated from opinion – and I really respect your decision to clearly label your “rants” from other content) that tailors and contextualises news for specific audiences. I’m not sure I’ve seen anyone really do this yet…

You might be a REAL pioneer. I certainly wish you well. I’ll be reading.