3 ms·
My distinct impression is that the limiting factor in quality journalism is gum-shoe reporting, not incredibly powerful CMS. Buzzfeed has the most advanced CMS
by Fede_V 12y ago
My distinct impression is that the limiting factor in quality journalism is gum-shoe reporting, not incredibly powerful CMS.
Buzzfeed has the most advanced CMS, but their reporting pales with respect to the NYT. When they do bother to do proper reporting (McKay Coppins, etc) they get excellent stories - the rest of the time they use filler, because it's cheap to produce.
- morgante 12y agoI actually think technology can improve the quality of journalism. Not necessarily by making great stories better (though the NYT is definitely proving that's possible with some of their interactives) but by making reporting in general cheaper. If a great CMS can make it possible to produce all the economically required filler in half a day, that leaves time to do actual investigative reporting later. Buzzfeed is definitely pushing this a little bit, though I do think they have a bit too much baggage to get far enough with it. (PS. If anyone wants to help tackle this problem, we're hiring @ Cafe: http://cafe.com/careers http://cafe.com/careers)
- Fede_V 12y agoI'm sure technology can improve things - for example, the NYT is doing a much better job now of marketing its (excellent) cooking section. My impression though, is that what makes great journalism is reporting. Almost all the time, when I'm reading a great article, I do so using readability to strip away all the crud and just end up with the text in a decent size and no pictures/hyperlinks/movies.
- morgante 12y ago> My impression though, is that what makes great journalism is reporting. Yup. At the end of the day, I think in-depth textual reporting does rule. But what tech can do is make that great reporting slightly cheaper (and thus more plentiful/viable).
- apozem 12y agoThis is absolutely true. I spend hours laying out print pages. A good CMS could cut that time down to nothing. It's a ton of work up front, but it saves you so much time later. Edit: I also need a job soon and am applying to write for Cafe!
- prawn 12y ago"the rest of the time they use filler, because it's cheap to produce" And because people read filler because it's easy and unchallenging.