From paper to pixels

By James Murray ⋅ August 22, 2008 ⋅

As news moves online, print is forced to evolve. Jamie Melbourne-Hayward and James Murray investigate how this will affect the industry and the way we use news. Illustration by Jamie Melbourne-Hayward, additional reporting by Carly Tawhiao.

“Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

-Dylan Thomas

The newspaper is under threat. The newsprint has been on the wall since the spread of high-speed broadband and the decision by several UK papers to break news on their websites first in 2006. The media industry is at a tipping point and must evolve to survive.

Just recently APN, which owns the New Zealand Herald, announced an annual drop in advertising revenue of about eight to 10 per cent. A result of the recent credit crunch, perhaps, but across the pond in the USA, where new media is far more prevalent, newspapers are losing money hand over fist. For example, the Capital Times in Wisconsin is no longer a hard copy paper at all. In April this year the presses stopped and now the paper publishes exclusively online.

The only places where newspaper advertising revenue is increasing are emerging economies such as India and China. Advertising revenue on the internet is rapidly increasing. In the UK, internet advertising is poised to overtake TV advertising and will make up one fifth of the total revenue from advertising by the end of the year.

It’s ironic that a medium which was used to advertise hard copy newspapers is now replacing it. The Wisconsin Capital Times now issues a free-sheet twice a week that acts as an advert for the website.

So should the newspaper ‘rage’ against this death or are we actually seeing a reincarnation? Should newspapers go ‘gentle into that good night’ or bite back and move with the times?

Democracy is about knowledgeable citizens making informed decisions for the greater good of mankind. Power within democracies is supposed to be watched over by the fourth estate: the media. However, citizens can start to lose faith in the integrity of their media if they perceive it becoming the fourth branch of government or a vehicle of business interests.

In countries where human rights are in question, information is often biased by a polarised media. State run papers such as the the China Daily, which faces daily censorship are a good example.
People are increasingly turning to the internet to find what is seen as unfiltered information.

Newspapers have previously been complacent about the digital revolution, with an over reliance on reader loyalty to their brands. But recently the internet is proving a catalyst for the reinvigoration of newsprint.
Many UK newspapers have changed their format to a tabloid, and moved to a magazine look.

News was once dispensed in a ‘top-down’ format, where Murdoch-style management and editors decided upon content and direction. Now citizen journalism, blogging and discussion boards have become popular avenues for a population disconnected from the “national debate”.People can dictate which content they are interested in, and are able to access varying viewpoints and “twitter” to their hearts delight.

The Independent in London has picked up on this trend and is now unafraid to break the taboo of printing opinion on its front page. It has successfully rebranded itself as a ‘viewspaper’ with its most popular content coming from columnists such as Robert Fisk. But the digital revolution has not improved the content of newspapers entirely for the good.

Newspapers are being drawn into television sensationalism, and dependence upon flashy news cycles to sell copies. The 24-hour news cycle has also been duplicated online, with stories breaking as they would on television, but with more immediacy. This could have an affect on the accuracy and depth of stories.

So, should newspapers die? On the one hand, the increase of “an open market place of ideas”, which the internet provides, is liberating to democracy. But does that freedom come at a cost?
Journalists are no longer just answerable to the letters page and there is a value in having a wider dialogue between the public and the media.

However, the freedom of the internet also allows the spread of bigotry and hatred: blogs and comment should be taken with a grain of salt – along with everything else for that matter.

While western newspapers service a wide-enough spectrum of views, the same cannot be said for Latin America, Africa and Asia. Citizen journalism in these parts is sometimes the only available balanced coverage - and investigative journalism occurs only online.

As more funds enter the internet-news market, a flow on to investigative journalism is needed. Furthermore, journalists are trained to be fair and balanced. As objectivity is only an ideal, the internet’s draw card is its ability to bring together opposing views from around the world, and allow them to be debated in the electronic halls of democracy.

What are the consequences for the world if newspapers disappear altogether or, at the very least, can only survive if targeting a niche market?
Leading US journalist John S Carroll believes the national conversation has already changed.

“Millions of people who previously had been excluded have now been allowed to join in. Whoever saw it coming? This is a First Amendment miracle,” he said in a lecture at the University of Kentucky this April.

He is referring to bloggers and the proliferation of opinion on the internet. But the gathering and dissemination of news is still largely done by traditional reporters who either work for newspapers or websites that are affiliated to newspapers.

According to professor of journalism Jeff Jarvis of BuzzMachine, a blog which analyses the progress and role of new media, traditional media networks such as newspapers or television stations now have to operate differently to survive.

“Networks were defined by control of content or distribution. But now, you can’t own all distribution and content is controlled where it’s created. So, I wonder, where’s the value and where’s the money in the fully networked world?”

Jarvis suggests that the way ahead is for media companies to aggregate content. A good example of this would be Yahoo Xtra.
Yahoo Xtra makes very little content itself. Instead it bundles news and entertainment sourced from other content providers in a way that is attractive to advertisers.
John Hagel, a US expert on the internet’s effect on business, agrees:

“The most powerful brands in the media business will be held by successful intermediaries that help to consistently improve return on attention for audiences.”

If there is more money to be made from simply aggregating news, the incentive to gather it decreases. The Catch 22 occurs when news aggregators realise profit depends on poorly paid content providers. For this system to work, an effective way of sharing advertising revenue through link networks needs to be devised – if news aggregators are too greedy their content supply will dry up.

If the media’s future lies in aggregating the most popular blogs and websites in attractive bundles the balanced viewpoint is going to struggle to be heard. The controversial will always get more hits than the accurate.

The danger to our ‘national conversation’ is our own thirst for sensationalism. Our national commentators will effectively be those we vote for with our mouse.

Barack Obama is all style and no substance. As are the Beijing Olympics.

Click on the story title to go to Te Waha Nui website - AUT students

By James Murray ⋅ August 22, 2008 ⋅ Post a comment

On your mark...get set... (Illustration: Sally Conor)

Winning is at the top of everyone’s agenda these days – winning with style and not necessarily substance.

The opening ceremony at the Olympics celebrated style over substance when event organisers chose aesthetics over reality. A little girl who couldn’t sing became an overnight superstar, miming in the place of another little girl who could sing delightfully but didn’t match up in the beauty stakes.

And superstars are the theme of this year’s ‘presidential’ elections. In the US the front runner is Barack Obama, a man who says little more than “America is ready for change” to a country passionate for change of any kind.
Obama may well bring change in America and it may well be change for the good, but it is the style of US election campaigns that grates: all fist-pumping razzamatazz and very little in the way of policy.

In New Zealand you could be forgiven for thinking we are going to elect a figurehead rather than a political party to run this country, especially if you are a member of our supposedly ignorant and apathetic youth.
According to the Electoral Commission, 107,500 of 18 to 24-year-olds are not enrolled to vote in this year’s election. It is clear young people are turned off by this cult of personality.

Clark, Key and Peters dominate the political hurdles, falling over each other in their Olympian efforts to get the media high-ground in the run-up to the election.
Where are the rest of our politicians and why are the issues being discussed so narrow? An outsider might mistakenly believe that the only things New Zealanders care about are taxes and the cost of living.
This presidential style of campaigning lets the electorate down. It is the fault of a lazy media and political spin machines that prefer to focus on personalities rather than issues such as domestic violence and a lack of affordable housing.

The focus must be less on personality and more on character; a politician of good character should never put their ego before their country.

The opportunity to improve China’s human rights record has been lost at the Olympic games.
Several athletes, such as the UK basketball player and Olympic ambassador for Amnesty International John Amaechi, spoke out before the games about the possibility of protests in light of China’s human rights record.

Amnesty International proudly announced that 40 competing athletes had signed a letter condemning China’s human rights record. Fair play to those athletes and take note that they have been able to compete at these games without hindrance.

However, there are 10,700 athletes at these games so 40 dissenters is a disappointing number.
It is a shame that many athletes are now toeing the party line that the Olympics is not the right arena for political protest or that politics and sport do not mix.

These statements are simply not true – sporting sanctions against South Africa’s apartheid system, notably anti-Springbok tour protesters in New Zealand, ably assisted the downfall of that cruel regime.

The brave actions of senior members of the Zimbabwe cricket squad, who wore black armbands mourning the death of democracy during the 2003 World Cup held in Africa, alerted a whole nation to the villainy of Robert Mugabe.

It is foolish to tar all of China with the same brush and short-sighted not to acknowledge the way in which it is slowly giving its citizens the rights they deserve.

But as long as human rights are not being satisfactorily met in China there is room for protest and this protest should have been visible on the biggest stage of all.

Romeo And Juliet and Showgirls - every English rugby players favourite haunt

Click on title for related story.

It’s not every day the missus suggests ogling Oceania’s finest from a shadowy corner of Showgirls. But then again it’s not every day that I take her to the ballet. It seemed a fair exchange.

Strip clubs usually fill me with a clammy fear. As if my mother and a whole procession of former teachers will see me enter and reveal me to be drunken pervert.

Walking in with your girlfriend though alleviates that problem; suddenly having some platinum blonde’s derriere waft in front of my face is pretty cool. Hell, it may even be socially acceptable, it’s probably something I can mention to my grandmother at Christmas nowadays.

I am here for the dancing I remind myself. A purely cerebral affair I note, as a leering buffoon steps drunkenly on my foot.

The cheering, star-crossed, morons inside Showgirls resembled Shakespeare’s ‘groundlings’ (Elizabethan peasants in the cheap-seats who came for Shakespeare’s more comic moments), especially self-confessed regular, city boy Dave who urged the crowd to “big it up for Showgirls”.

It was quite a different crowd at the New Zealand Ballet’s production of Romeo and Juliet at the EDGE Theatre, though in some ways no more engaging. A well-spoken lady unfairly berated the usher for letting in a couple of latecomers during the opening fight scene. Really madam, was your view that impinged?

The first act was nearly as exciting as Oceania contender Nicki’s flaming shaving foam trick. A pint-sized Mercutio snaps, crackles and pops his way across the stage, an engaging mix of arrogance, coquetry and tragic fool. Romeo is a wistful, hormone-filled, flirt – primed to fall passionately in love with the first girl that grabs his attention.

Romeo and Juliet is about doom and pre-destined fate. Tracy Grant Lord’s set portrays this excellently. Dark greys and blood reds are lit by a portentous moon which looms like the sword of Damocles over the stage.

Meanwhile back at Showgirls, Kylie takes the stage. Her dance is a homage to Baywatch, complete with shower scene. Despite struggling with her life saving ring and banging into her surfboard she is so far the hot favourite for the opportunity to represent New Zealand in the finals in Australia.

And then there is a break. The showgirls break sees two of the clubs exotic dancers take the stage offering gartered legs to money waving blokes. Incidentally, my lemonade cost four bucks and my change came in the form of a dollar note only to be used for tipping strippers.

The interval at the Edge is a more sophisticated affair, if of course you like the theatre tradition of queuing fifteen minutes for a drink that you then have to consume in two minutes. I can’t stress my dislike of intervals enough – they break the magic.

A disgruntled boyfriend sneaks outside for a cigarette telling a mate on his cell phone that it’s “not his cup of tea.” A woman in the toilet queue complains that the beginning was too “fighty”.
There are several scenes that really work in this production of Romeo and Juliet. The ‘fight’ scenes are excellent as is the dance where Romeo first meets Juliet – the high point of Prokofiev’s foreboding score.

Mercutio is portrayed with just the right measures of loyal friend and pompous fool. His dancing duels with the bullying Tybalt are full of Baz Luhrmann and the fights of martial arts legends.
Other scenes are slightly awkward. When Romeo and Juliet are married in secret the priest joins in their dance in a disturbing triumvirate that just looks and feels plain wrong.

The tragic ending is rushed and consequently the pathos is not sufficiently eeked out. I want to be an emotional wreck at the end of Romeo and Juliet – instead I went to the supermarket.

There was no such problem with the ending of Showgirls. Malaina, who had rushed from a job as a naked human platter to be the night’s final contestant, paraded down the stage as a sexy secretary. She actually had a sense of eroticism and won hands down, or knickers down as they say round here.

Romeo and Juliet is about passion over-riding the brain and Miss Oceania is about lust doing the same thing – it really just depends which is your cup of tea.

Tsvangirai's actions are humane not cowardly

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has been criticised in some quarters for not having the guts to carry on in the struggle for power in Zimbabwe.

It is exactly this decision that contrasts him from despots such as Mugabe. His respect for humanity and human life distinguishes him from leaders for whom power is everything.

He may not be fighting fire with fire but he is fighting fire with compassion and diplomacy.

Political Shennanigans etc

The news story I am waffling on about here can be seen by clicking on the title.

I am not sure whether it is reason to be happy or reason to be deeply depressed that we live in a world where a politician will appear as a breakdancing dwarf to curry favour.

Rodney Hide, the leader of ACT: a relatively small right of centre NZ political party, has apparently appeared on a celebrity "who can dance" style show. It clearly hadn't helped as he swivelled awkwardly, flapping his arms like a horny amphibian.

He danced with the social grace and timing of your mother-in-law at a wedding.

I'm genuinely torn. On the one hand it's good to see a politician actually involving himself with something. Better that than churning out politspeak at a rate of knots.

But on the other, the cause he was fighting for was just naff.

Hide was trying to make the point that education funding should go to the child rather than to schools. That way all our children can go to drama school and rehearse pantomimes while they dream of becoming the next Britney "too many beers' Spears.

Is this everyone's dream Hide.

I hope not.

Perhaps other politicians could take a leaf out of Hide's unorthodox book though...

Mugabe could promote his party by appearing in a stage version of the Last King Of Scotland

Gordon Brown could tour the UK in a campervan hoping nobody will notice he isn't at work.

John Key could do a sponsored stint in the history section at Auckland library

That Green party guy with dreads could (and perhaps should) have a televised haircut

Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton could see how much money they can possibly spend promoting themselves when they could have stayed at home farting into tea cups for free.

McCain could do a documentary on a chip factory.

Any other offers are welcome..

J

WEST PAPUA: Media confusion reigns over ‘non military strikes’

Asia-Pacific Journalism, 12 June 2008

Disputed reports of military sweeps in West Papua have cast a spotlight on the Indonesian government’s restrictions on media in the area, reports James Murray.

A month-long military sweep of villages in the Jayawijaya region of West Papua may have targeted civilians in its search for “separatist symbols” according to the Cenderawasih Post in Jayapura.

However, confusion about the sweep – which apparently never happened - has highlighted the need for greater media access in the Indonesian-ruled province.

Maire Leadbeater, of the Indonesian Human Rights Committee, says there is doubt surrounding the accuracy of the story.

She cites a report from Catholic Justice and Peace (SKP) that suggests Suara Papua Merdeka (SPM), a Papuan media outlet that translates as the Voice of Papuan Independence, got the story wrong.

According to SKP, the police and military became involved due to a village conflict over a stolen pig.

Although there was a military raid on the thief’s family and extended family it seems nobody was killed.

Misleading stories like this only serve to highlight the Indonesian government’s media restrictions in West Papua, says Leadbeater.

“If they would open up West Papua and it was easier for people to communicate freely we perhaps would not get these misleading stories,” she says.

The executive secretary of the umbrella human rights group FOKER, Septer Manufandu, echoed these sentiments.

He said journalists “must clarify the truth” when writing stories about West Papua as much “news” from the province was propaganda.

He said the Cenderawasih Post was government-backed. The report seemed surprising considering that many people would regard such a military strike as poor public relations for the Indonesian government.

Manufandu, who recently visited New Zealand, regards Pax Christi and local news agencies such as Jubi as reliable sources.

FOKER is an umbrella organisation that co-ordinates 64 non-governmental organisations in West Papua and campaigns for human rights and development strategies that involve the indigenous population.

The confusion does not lie only with those fighting for West Papuan rights and independence. Even the Indonesian Embassy seemed confused by events.

When asked about the “military sweeps”, Tri Purnajaya, First Secretary of the Indonesian Embassy, said he did not know how extensive they were but assumed they were quite moderate.

He added there had been “some arrests” and those who been arrested were awaiting sentence.
He said “Indonesia adopts a liberal press. In fact – the most liberal in the region. The government guarantees freedom of expression throughout Indonesia including Papua.”
However, in a commentary published in the latest Pacific Journalism Review, Leadbeater disputed this claim.

“While Indonesia keeps this troubled province off limits to foreign journalists and human rights investigators, Indonesia’s human rights credibility should be critically examined,” wrote Leadbeater.

This is despite Indonesia being re-elected in 2007 to the United Nations Human Rights Council for a three-year term.

According to Leadbeater, only a handful of journalists have been allowed access to West Papua.
In 2007, two United Nations rapporteurs, Hina Jilani and Manfred Nowak, were granted access.
Both rapporteurs raised concerns regarding military and police harassment, arbitrary detention, torture and persecution of those who sought to investigate human rights investigations.

In the same year, BBC correspondent Lucy Williamson reported on extreme poverty and allegations of human rights abuses after being granted a permit to report on the opening of an independent radio network in the Papuan central highlands.

According to Leadbeater, the only stories that seemed to gain government support were small human interest stories. The United Nations and BBC journalists had inadvertently caused a tightening of media control:

“Some Papuans believe that access may have tightened up since the BBC visit.”

Lindsay Murdoch, of the Melbourne Age, also believes Indonesia’s record on media freedom is below par.

When asked about the amount of media coverage of immigration issues in West Papua, Murdoch replied:

“Disgraceful, virtually non-existent. Jakarta's refusal to allow journalists free access to Papa is one of the main reasons. Also, Jakarta comes down hard on any foreign NGOs which expose human rights abuses or issues like the Islamisation of Papua.”

Media coverage of West Papua is also scant in neighbouring Papua New Guinea’s press.
Patrick Matbob wrote in Pacific Journalism Review that “there had been a dramatic decline in the Papua New Guinea press coverage of West Papua over the past 20 years”.

This lack of coverage is linked to a general decline in the PNG media, specifically now that the PNG media now relies heavily on official sources.

Matbob’s news content analysis of the Times of PNG and the Post-Courier revealed that in 1984 there were 133 news stories published on West Papua. By 2006 this number had declined to 70, with many of the stories included in the “briefs” sections.

PNG media coverage is especially relevant to West Papua as more than 10,000 Papuan refugees live there.

West Papuans Forge Alliance To Push For Independence

Click on title for link!

Asia Pacific Journalism, 8 May 2008

Groups seeking independence for West Papua have in the past been divided. Now, reports James Murray, unity is the buzzword and activists have joined forces.

West Papuans hoping for wrest independence have taken an important step with the formation of a coalition designed to unify the country’s resistance to Indonesian rule.

The West Papua National Coalition for Liberation (WPNCL) was set up after a meeting held in Port Vila, Vanuatu, last month.

Richard Yoweni of the National Liberation Army of West Papua was elected as chairman.

The coalition allows the West Papuan people to protect and reclaim its resources and culture said coalition spokesperson Clemens Runawery.

“Indonesian government control over West Papua for the past 45 years and the implementation of its so-called ‘special autonomy’ package in the past five years has grossly failed the West Papuan people,” he said.

Runawery is a West Papuan politician who has lived in exile since the so-called Act of Free Choice handed control of West Papua to Indonesia in 1969.

He said that under the Indonesian administration there has been a “rapid deterioration of health and education, an ever increasing wave of the HIV/AIDS disease and huge profiteering from the West Papuan natural resources and rainforests”.

The WPNCL will be based at the West Papuan People’s Representative office in Port Vila.
Maire Leadbeater, spokesperson for New Zealand’s Indonesian Human Rights Committee, said Vanuatu’s support was vital as it was hard for the coalition to meet freely in West Papua.

Leadbeater was not surprised at Vanuatu’s stance.

“They had to struggle to achieve their own freedom so it’s not just the government, it’s the people as well – they pray for it [West Papuan independence] in their churches. If the Vanuatu government backslides it faces a lot of domestic pressure,” she said.

This view was shared by Pacific-based photojournalist Ben Bohane.

“Vanuatu was the only Pacific nation to join the non-aligned movement during the Cold War and has maintained an independent foreign policy since then,” he said.

Vanuatu’s support for West Papua and the formation of the WPNCL is the first step in presenting a strong, unified Melanesian position to Pacific Island regional bodies.

Bohane says it is important for West Papua to gain the support of regional bodies for the issue to be dealt with by the United Nations.

Runawery says: “WPNCL is now seeking observer status with the Melanesian Spearhead Group and the Pacific Islands Forum as a platform for the people of West Papua within the UN and other international forums.”

Groups such as the Melanesian Spearhead Group will benefit from this unity when the West Papua issue is brought up at the Pacific Island Forum. The forum does not necessarily support West Papuan independence.

“Since the issue has been ‘swept under the tapa mat’ by the forum for so long, we have to say that the forum is not neutral but anti-West Papua. This has been because of pressure from Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea to keep it off the agenda,” says Bohane.

The WPNCL also protests against the international investment of companies with extensive interests in the resource rich area such as BP in Tangguh and Freeport, which operates the Grasberg copper mine.

Bohane says “having considerable resources has been a curse, not a blessing for the West Papuans”.

“BP, like every other mining company, is exploiting the situation there, particularly if they are relying on Indonesian military for security,” he says.

BP’s liquefied natural gas project in Tangguh may eventually be worth $100 billion dollars and the Grasberg copper mine is one of the world’s largest sources of precious metals contributing heavily to Freeport’s estimated worth of $26 billion.

Guardian journalist John Vidal writes that Papuan leaders were pleased with BP’s initial humanitarian efforts. The company was keen to avoid the experiences of extraction companies in Africa and South America where they have been accused of exploiting local communities.

“BP completely rebuilt one fishing village, poured money into the nearby communities, and employed leading environment, human rights and health groups to advise them on how to avoid conflict and bring prosperity to the villages,” wrote Vidal.

However, relations have started to turn sour with indigenous Papuans becoming frustrated at the number of Indonesian immigrants taking jobs in the area - jobs that have not been offered to West Papuans. They also accuse BP of taking sides with the Indonesian government to ensure that they have access to the Tangguh resources.

Protests by the Free West Papua (UK) group have been lodged at BP’s Tangguh Independent Advisory Panel (TIAP) meeting. They claim that BP has ignored abuses of human rights including the long-term imprisonment of West Papuans accused of raising the indigenous Morning Star flag.

They say Indonesian soldiers had threatened to shoot a Papuan who had erected a banner saying “Welcome Prince Andrew to the land of Papua – the Land of Genocide” during the prince’s recent visit as the UK business envoy.

Tapol, the Indonesian Human Rights Campaign, has written to BP to warn that they have caused instability in the region. They say Papuans “see them as a collaborator with Jakarta’s exploitation of West Papua’s natural resources”.

Runawery said the role of companies such as BP had been “disastrous” and was causing Papuans to become a minority in their own country. The investment of BP and Freeport had “effectively underwritten the occupation of West Papua by the Indonesian security forces”.

“The expansion of Indonesian government backed businesses and economic interests is at the expense of the people of West Papua,” said Runawery, in a reference to tight military controls, a lack of political freedom and the abuse of human rights.

Considering the large financial incentive that the Indonesian government has to keep control of West Papua it may be some time before their dream of independence is realised.

Bohane believes West Papua will be independent at some point but that it will take time.
The formation of the WPNCL was certainly a step in the right direction though.

“It is hard to be optimistic. However, it is a significant development to have the realisation of a unified command and leadership under WPNCL which will give the independence movement a better chance of success in its international diplomacy,” he said.

The first moves of this unified command will be to get West Papua on the UN Decolonisation Committee and to seek to repeal the Act of Free Choice.

James Murray is a Graduate Diploma in Journalism student at AUT University and this is an Asia-Pacific Journalism assignment.