Journalism has changed over the last 10-20 years.
As the Internet has taken over as a resource of information people have been looking to more than just the regular sources of news. People are reading websites for commentary, breaking news, and opinions. People are following sites like Twitter for the latest happenings in the world. Regular people have been able to report the news because the Internet gives a voice to everyone.
One writer wrote a great piece about this topic on recently for The Sydney Morning Herald. In the piece the writer discussed that now, more than ever, there is a need for quality writing.
From Why Study Journalism? Because Web Audiences Want Quality, Too:
With the massive sea of content out there, journalistic skills are more important than ever. Audiences will still choose good content over bad, even if they no longer buy it from a news-stand.
Some will claim this is public relations, not journalism. In most cases, that’s true. But the skills of a journalist and a PR professional are largely the same. If you doubt that, look at the revolving door between journalists turning PR professionals and, in some cases, back again.
In other cases, though, the content is journalism – or at least a form of journalism. It’s simply storytelling about new developments. Most science reporting falls into this category, as do most human-interest stories. These are not insidious forms of PR that seek to manipulate people; it’s just sharing stuff that people want to know. That’s what most journalism is.
Please read the entire article. It is worth a few minutes of your time.
People still demand quality content. They want to be entertained. They want to be educated. They want to be enlightened. I think the opportunity for writers lies with the ability to analyze the news and provide understanding for segments of the population.
The news isn’t owned by sources anymore. Sure, there are breaking news items, but nobody remembers the source of the information anymore. It doesn’t matter if it was a TV channel or a news website.
People hear about the news fast these days. If they don’t hear it from the original source they’ll hear about it a short time later on their preferred channel for information. In most cases this channel seems to be Twitter, Facebook or another similar social website.
Breaking the news is not the game anymore.
Interpreting the news is where the opportunity is for writers.
You may be wondering what this has to do with business blogging.
Businesses have the chance to earn the trust of the populace today. You can become the source of wisdom and quality content in the online world. There are no barriers to entry. Nobody controls your thoughts and nobody controls the attention of the people anymore.
Anyone can get anything on the Internet and that includes information.
But people still demand quality.
If you notice a lack of quality information in your industry there is a high likelihood that your target audience lacks a source of knowledge in the industry. This presents an opportunity for your business to create a source of information – like a blog – that provides interpretation of what is happening in the industry.
The goal should be to help make the lives of your target customers better. You want to entertain, educate, and enlighten them. You can do this with a blog. You don’t need to break the news. You can do more than that by taking the latest news stories in your industry and providing a point of view. Your customers are looking to you to be an expert in the field and they want to know how to react to certain events.
Journalism matters now more than ever.
Learn to tell interesting stories to your readers. Interpret the news for your readers. This will grow the audience around your business increasing the discovery of your brand and increasing the number of new customers you bring in.
That’s how information works today.