MediaMorphosis Away Team Reports
Following our MediaMorphosis advance in March, we recruited volunteers to work on one of three "Away Teams". Each team focused on three key trends discussed by the entire MediaMorphosis group.
Know / Trust Networks
Informal networks or communities of people exchanging news, information and conversation emerge as the principal means of learning and discovery. Macro and micro Know/Trust Networks will likely eclipse traditional, informed intermediaries and gatekeepers as trusted sources of information.
Digital Everything
All news and information will at some point need to be virtual, digital and mobile.
The Individual
Individuals exert unprecedented power. Individuals contribute to and participate in the creation of portable, immediate and continuously updated news and information.
Within these themes each team focused on developing three opportunities that a company could use to confront challenges in the specific area of their team. The teams:
- Team Biz: Business model disruption / Financial resource allocation
- Team Change: Internal culture, leadership and capacity to change
- Team Ops: Operations, workflow, technology and infrastructure
While each team approached the assignment differently each team developed a valuable framework of issues and solutions applicable in today’s business environment. We invite you to explore these ideas and solutions and add your own thoughts and ideas.
Blockbusters for innovation
The Information Industry interprets its Convergence Age too narrowly. Don’t limit the concept to one company operating on multiple platforms – broadcast, print, Internet simulcasts. The other convergence raging right now is the meeting of content providers, professional associations, journalism institutes, universities, start-up companies, communications corporations, publications, online operations and ever on and on.
Business model disruption/Financial resource allocation
News and information providers must enable completely open access to their content, real-time news or archives, across media type, and monetize that open access with a variety of business models. This new imperative has dramatic implications for the economics and mechanics of newsgathering, the quality of journalism and delivery of content to end users.
How participatory journalism can improve your media company
The Opportunity
News media can tap into the potential power and resources of citizen and nonprofessional content providers.
Internal culture and leadership structure: Building a creative learning environment
The Challenge
We must find ways to ensure news executives and staff are exposed to research, new technology and best practices. And we must ensure they are positioned to hear of relevant trends and respond nimbly.
Leadership = Readership: Partner to improve
The Opportunity
By focusing on a newsroom’s overall operation – producing content
and community services that work for its constituency – a newsroom and
its business operations can create employee and operational partnership programs
that offer multiple incentives for improved performance while still protecting
the core values of objectivity and the interests of the readership.
Training and mentoring in newsrooms
The Opportunity
There is a tremendous opportunity in creating valuable and unique training for newsroom staff members. Most importantly training would allow workers to utilize new techniques in their day-to-day work. It would mean innovation in work product and allow individuals to experience personal growth. Both translate to better morale and a better product.
