Also, what about Time’s choice for their Person of the Year? Barack Obama - who’s that? Thank goodness it wasn’t some nebulous concept choice this year… And is Obama creating a Democratic power vacuum by creating a bunch of vacancies in the Senate through his cabinet
choices? Is he risking his majority? And finally, yes, we gotta talk SHOES! Is the whole shoe-throwing incident overblown? Could it be national catharsis for a president we’ll never see regret anything? Or is it just hilarious? Tune in to this week’s Wilshire & Washington, with hosts Ted, Teresa, and Maegan, and they just might tell you! - Blaise Nutter, producer

Listen here or use the blue Blog Talk Radio player on the right >>.

“And once that became obvious, we said so, over and over again, all the time. We said it in public, we said it in private. We said it when newspapers hired us as designers, we said it when we were brought in as consultants, we said it for free. We were some tiresome motherfuckers with all our talk about the end of news on paper. And you know what? The people who made their living from printing the news listened, and then decided not to believe us.

So I’m calling bullshit on the Rosenbaum thesis, because no one has been “caught up in this great upheaval.” Caught up? That makes it sound like a tornado. This change has been more like seeing oncoming glaciers ten miles off, and then deciding not to move.”

“As I sat in the various sessions contemplating the extensive possibilities at our feet when bold leaders push existing boundaries, my Twitter feed continued to ding on my Blackberry with updates from Romenesko and Jay Rosen: reports of more of the same old MSM coverage of layoffs and predictable navel-gazing about election bias born of the hierarchical point-counterpoint inverted pyramid storytelling model. The irony was biting. What is a journalist if not someone who hopes to enable others with the information they need to solve the problems of our time? To connect individual citizens with their communities? Shouldn’t newspapers be the ones championing this enterprise? 

The American Press Institute is huddled behind closed doors this week in crisis mode discussing how to save the deadwood editions that still turn a profit. You have to wonder if it’s just like watching the unplugged McCain campaign be pummeled by underestimating Web 2.0 technology. Since we won’t know until they publish a report what exactly they’re talking about, I am hoping the API conversation focuses less on redesigns and marketing gimmicks, and primarily on giving advertisers incentives to pay higher CPMs and invest in the redevelopment of dynamic, 21st century newsrooms that connect the distinct expertise of reporters with the emerging wisdom of the crowd. 

This doesn’t have to be a crisis: In fact, it is a time of great opportunity for those who are willing to make big bets — and implement them.”

Full column here.

From a business perspective, it appears to be a home run. Despite the collapse and resurrection of niche efforts like ESPN mobile service, the power of direct access to consumers via cell phones has skyrocketed as high as the presidential election coverage, with candidates looking to the utility-driven impact of text messaging to galvanize their get out the vote efforts in November. In every meeting I’m sitting in, every conference I attend and every company I advise, we’re talking about mobile media as the next frontier, which has already been established overseas. 

From a user perspective, however, I’m starting to experience fatigue. Although, this may mean that at the ripe old age of 28, I’m already a geezer. Read more here. 

“The thing that stood out most to me in the study was the distinction young consumers make between wanting to be informed versus wanting to follow the news. Whereas I personally enjoy following the minutia of the campaign trail as much as a zealous NFL fan watches the stats, most of my peers prefer the highlight reel. A news outlet that can provide information about major milestones in quick context resonates most.“  Read more here.

Also of interest is a 2003 study Andrew and I did at Medill with the Media Management Center about reaching young-light news consumers in Milwaukee.

While a lot of the usual arguments were being made, Will.i.am stole the show (to much applause) by talking about passion and inspiration. Noting that stepping out politically as he has this year is “detrimental” to his career, he said “I’m willing to take that risk for my country” because he’s been so inspired by BO. He was also convinced that the web would enable more people to connect and communicate without the corporate revenue-driven model that predominates creativity and information. And for my E & P readers, he also argued that entertainment information is a viable source of news (which I’m not entirely convinced on; it really should be more of an entry point).

Since I’m jetting off to The Big Tent now, I’m going to bullet point some other things that stood out to me:

- Rahm Emanuel argued that the web is 2008’s equivalent to Bush’s tactic of mobilizing church groups in 2004. He also said the next step is how the example of BO’s candidacy will lead local politicians to implement new media strategies.
- Charlie Rose asked George Stephanopoulos why the Republicans haven’t embraced the internet (because they’re too busy gabbing on talk radio!!) and he said they didn’t have the right talent, like BO has Facebook’s Chris Hughes.
- SNL guy (sorry I can’t remember your name right now! I’ll look it up later!) said that he is most interested in seeing how comments evolve in 2012, which is one of the things I’m interested in too. They are such a great value in terms of interactivity and expanding the conversation, but they’re expensive to moderate and crowded with drivel.
- I also caught up with WaPost publisher Katharine Weymouth and talked about preserving reporting resources for newspaper brands in the new media realm and she really seemed to get it. She was realistic about the non-competitive nature of the web. She also said she thinks readers will enjoy vertical-driven information, where they can access the things they like most. We both expressed concern with that model, however, that readers would not benefit from the stumbled-upon factor of news they don’t seek out directly. I suggested that it may be made up for through social networking, since friend recommendations and sites like Digg serve as entry point to news you weren’t necessarily tuned into.
- And finally, I was pleased to see my former governor, Gray Davis, working the crowd. I wondered what happened to that guy! Call it a comeback?

I’ll be interviewing Digg’s marketing director on W&W at 4:30, and Digby joins us at 6pm for the regularly scheduled show. And now … off to search for disgruntled HRC supporters!!
UPDATE: My agent notes that SNL guy is Fred Armisen. Thx!!

“Defenders of the millennial generation’s civic engagement had some explaining to do last week after a recent Pew study indicated that a third of us don’t seek out any news on a typical day, including online media. As E&P reported when the data was released, this statistic undercuts a common argument that millennials are not turned off, they just get their news from non-traditional outlets beyond print and broadcast media.”

Read more here.

In this week’s Editor & Publisher column I discuss the murky intersection of journalism with activist bloggers and social networks. 

For better or worse, journalism is inherently fused with technological evolution and this alignment will have redefining implications for young journalists. Thanks to the emergence of new publishing platforms and online communities, professionals are now aligned with amateurs as full-fledged participants in The Social Contract 2.0. In this new contract, the traditional role of journalists as arbiters of ideas and facts will blur with the often agenda-driven activism of bloggers and social networks. … Read more here.

I did receive some messages from journalists (young and old!) who were enthusiastic about beginning an ongoing dialogue on the future of journalism. People who know me well can attest that I’ve been a crusader for delivering compelling news to the millennial generation since I was a 19-year-old opinion columnist in the Daily Bruin at UCLA. I then studied millennial media habits in graduate school at Northwestern University, and my first real job was as a general assignment reporter and columnist at RedEye, the Chicago Tribune’s special daily edition for 18- to 34-year-old readers.

There was some skepticism about whether -31- (and it’s esoteric reference to the deadwood edition; the mark “-30-” used to denote the end of a reporter’s story) will resonante with younger journalists. That will be entirely dependent upon who chooses to participate. I hope journalists of all varieties will choose to own a piece of the conversation and contribute.

If you have a story idea or comment, leave one here or email me.

Since I’ve become obsessed with Twitter feeds and RSS readers, I’ve had to make a concerted effort to get my hold-it-in-your-hands smut fiction fix and it took me a few weeks to read it, but the book was well worth sticking it out. I am immediately suspicious of all writers with an unhealthy penchant for Holden Caufield, but coming-of-age angst is inherently compelling and I vaguely recall writing a horrific short story in a creative writing class at UCLA that was a little more wanna be Salinger than “Portrait of the Artist.” 

As great as blogs and Facebook updates are, there’s still nothing quite as satisfying as curling up in bed with a good novel.