The Modern Journalist

Posted on | February 25, 2008 | View Comments

I’ve been a journalist since 1995, although I could easily say that I’ve done the job of a journalist my whole life.

I was a curious kid. Some say obnoxiously curious. And that hasn’t slowed down as I’ve gotten older. On more than one occasion, I’ve been told that having a conversation with me can be like going through a confirmation hearing. It’s relentless.

But I’ve been a technologists just as long. Maybe longer. I’ve been on the Internet since 1984, and while I’ve watched the world around me change, I noticed that my brothers and sisters in the media business haven’t kept up.

That is not good.

We’re in a time great social change. Democratization of information. Shared virtual spaces. Constant connectivity. The barriers to entry into this fun-filled world are small.

Traditional media companies haven’t quite picked up on that yet, and they are quickly becoming irrelevant in the lives of most people.

This blog was borne out of eight years of crushing frustration. Watching social media take off. Watching an explosion of words and sounds and pictures the like we have never seen. And watching the media ignore it at worst, and watch it with as a circus oddity at best.

It’s also come from a series of lectures I’ve given — and will be giving — to various organizations around the country on Journalism 2010. At every stop, two things happen: the new media types thank me for telling their bosses what they have been telling them, and the journalists ask “how do I keep my job.”

The lectures have been evolving — as has a book project on this subject. But that seemed a bad — traditional — way of getting the word out.

So, we’re here. At The Modern Journalist. I’m going to make this as Web 2.0, Read/Write, conversation-y as I can. Most of that depends on you. I’ll be posting thoughts on Gadgets changing the industry, Software that you should use, Issue with transition into a digital world, Organizations that get it right — and wrong, and Social Media phenomenon you should pay attention to.

This is day one.

The Revolution Will Be Digitized.

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