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Mapping the News and Information Ecosystem

Envisioning what the news and information ecosystem looks like contributes to creating it.

Understanding a complex system is no easy task. Maps simplify reality to highlight useful distinctions. They give form to an abstract idea, like a news and information ecosystem. Just as nature’s ecosystem is a community of living organisms — plants, animals and microbes — interacting with nonliving components in their environment — air, water and soil, a news and information ecosystem consists of the interactions among its organisms — journalists, the public, journalism educators, media reformers, and others — in their environment — organizations, associations, the Internet, mobile devices.

Whether natural systems or social systems, mapping makes visible nonlinear, complex relationships. Think of the many maps of the human body from science class: circulatory system, nervous system, muscular system and others.  Communication becomes easier because of a common framework.  Consider the breakthroughs attributed to mapping the human genome. Health care providers have an increased capacity to treat, prevent and cure disease.  New technologies for sharing information and working with it are also among the benefits.

Imagine a comparable set of maps of the news and information ecosystem. They could help us to pursue questions like:

  • Where are innovations happening?
  • Where are opportunities for new ideas?
  • Who’s funding what aspects of the system? And what needs funding?
  • What’s missing? What else needs to be visible on the map?

Different kinds of maps help us understand different aspects of a system.  They can be used for understanding what to measure.  As noted in the Knight Commission report on the news and information needs of communities, “If activists, policymakers, and the general public had more concrete ways of describing, measuring and comparing the systems of community news and information flow, it would be much easier to mobilize public interest around community information needs.”

One news executive experienced the practical benefits of mapping when he saw a network map (one segment below) created for the 2010 JTM Pacific Northwest conference.  He noticed the competition near the center. His organization was off to the side. A colleague explained antiquated technology caused the problem. Shortly after the conference, that technology changed.

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Thanks to Richard Rogers, director of Govcom.org Foundation, Amsterdam for creating the map.

Dr. Michelle Ferrier, Associate Dean for Innovation at Ohio University’s Scripps College of Communication (and JTM board member), is creating geographic maps of media deserts. By mapping places where fresh news and information is lacking, these maps identify where resources are most needed.  Her proof of concept used North Carolina.  One of the series is pictured here.

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In 2008, JTM created its much copied value network maps of the old and emerging news and information ecosystems.  (Visit the link for the emerging ecosystem map.)

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Value Network Maps are a terrific approach for understanding the interactions of a complex system.  They help identify opportunities for partnerships, innovation, development, and much more.

Much has happened since that 2008 map making session.  Were we to map what’s emerging today by focusing on possibility, engagement, and diversity, we could chart pioneering territory, making visible opportunities for further advances and wider adoption.

As a start, I offer a simple functional map of a news and information ecosystem, along with a preliminary list of agents. Far from complete, it gives a glimpse into what is emerging.

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Roles in a News and Information Ecosystem

Content Creators/Storytellers

  • Reporters
    • Professional
    • Amateur
    • Community
    • Organizational (business, nonprofit)
    • Investigators
    • Long form narrative writers
    • Short form narrative writers
    • Editorial writers
    • Beat reporters
    • Bloggers
    • Data handlers

Publishers/distributors

  • Print
  • Broadcast
    • Radio
      • Traditional
      • Low power FM
      • Satellite
      • Internet
    • TV
  • Online
    • Social media
    • Blogs
    • Emerging forms
      • Games
      • Hip hop
      • Comedy
  • Other dimensions
    • Public/private
    • Large/small
    • Geographic/topical

 

Sense-Makers/Discerners

  • Curators
  • Aggregators
  • Fact checkers
  • Transparency advocates

 

Users/Communities

  • General Public
  • Supporters
    • Community stewards/ navigators/ombudsmen
    • Media Reformers
    • Community organizers
    • Librarians

 

 Archivers

  • Librarians
  • Others?

 

Researchers/Evaluators

  • Academics
  • Librarians
  • Historians
  • Evaluators

 

Influencers

  • Government
  • Business
  • Media Advocates
  • Educators
  • Ethicists – people who bring important questions like:
    • What is newsworthy?
    • What lenses serve our storytelling?
    • Who tells our stories?
    • What are the roles of the system and how can they best serve the needs of communities and democracy?
    • How do we reach everyone?
    • What is advocacy?

 

Funders

  • Advertisers
  • Foundations
  • Public – Fees for service, products
  • Venture capitalists
  • Angel investors
  • Others?

 

Educators

  • Teachers
  • Students
  • For the public – Media literacy organizations
  • For the story tellers
  • Topics
    • Craft
    • Ethics
    • Technology
    • Analysis
    • Investigation
    • Engagement
    • Systems Thinking and Change
    • News Judgment – choosing stories
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Media law

 

You can help make it better. What roles, functions, and connections do you see in the ecosystem? The clearer the picture of what we want to create, the greater our ability to realize it.

I end my series on journalism in changing times with a challenge. We are in a pioneering era in which the mental maps that guide us are being redrawn. Not just in journalism, but also in education, health care, governance, and every social system. No matter where you are, learn to navigate uncertainty.  Look for possibilities, engage others, and welcome the creative potential diversity brings. Tell your stories, map new terrain. Make a difference wherever you are.

 

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Got something to contribute?

Unless you explicitly request otherwise, I will post comments received from all media in the comment space below.

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Read the other posts in this series:

The Possibility Principle

The Engagement Principle

The Diversity Principle

Illuminations Blog, JTM News

The Weekly Illumination — Issue 7

Welcome to the the Weekly Illumination, a JTM newsletter offering a quick look at the week in journalism with a focus on what’s working in today’s news ecology. In this week’s Illumination we’ll look at how the role of the television in people’s homes is changing, explore how increased awareness of public surveillance is affecting journalism, and highlight two new sites created by established media companies.

Journalism that Matters announces call-out for submissions

Do you know of a news site or publication that’s doing something that others should follow? You could earn up to $250 by sharing their story on the Illuminations Blog. The Illuminations Project is built around highlighting these sorts of solutions, and we’ve announced a call-out for submissions showcasing as many of these success stories as possible.

Most Americans get their news from the TV, but many millennials avoid television

A new Pew study shows that even in 2013, more Americans get their news from television than online or print sources, but research from the New York Times shows that one-third of millennials watch little or no TV, reports Andrew Beaujon at Poynter. It’s not clear from these two studies whether young adults are consuming less news than their older counterparts, but it’s clear that a smaller portion of people will be getting their news from TV as the population shifts over time. Seeing this threat, John Malone, a leading executive in the cable industry, is calling for companies across the industry to develop a single national brand to stream content over the internet and compete against Netflix.

Project Censored’s 2014 compendium is available now

The latest edition of Project Censored’s annual volume of the most under-covered stories of the year is now available at your local bookstore and online. In this week’s Illumination’s blog we look at how the nonprofit organization has sustained itself for more than 35 years.

Get involved in the changing news and information ecosystem

JTM Board Member Peggy Holman’s series on the emerging information ecosystem continues with a look at the importance of diversity in voice, form and funding. In her latest column she explores the role you can play in improving our media landscape.

Dispatch from international gathering of news councils

JTM Alum John Hamer recently returned from the 15th annual meeting of Alliance of Independent Press Councils of Europe. Hamer is the president of the Washington News Council, the only group of it’s kind in the US, and filed this report from the meeting.

There are no anonymous sources without anonymonity

“At the present time, the NSA has made private electronic communication essentially impossible,” said scholars and journalists from the MIT Center for Civic Media and Columbia Journalism School in a 15-page comment to the group President Obama convened following the NSA revelations. “What the NSA is doing is incompatible with the existing law and policy protecting the confidentiality of journalist-­‐source communications. This is not merely an incompatibility in spirit, but a series of specific and serious discrepancies between the activities of the intelligence community and existing law, policy, and practice in the rest of the government. Further, the climate of secrecy around mass surveillance activities is itself actively harmful to journalism, as sources cannot know when they might be monitored, or how intercepted information might be used against them.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists released its own report this week detailing how the Obama administration has contributed to this climate by aggressively pursuing leaks and the changing relationship between the government and the press in the decade following 9/11.

Does the future of the Washington Post look like Pinterest?

Ezra Klein, the publisher of the Washington Post’s Wonkblog has unleashed a new portal to that looks surprisingly like Pinterest. Know More consists of a series of boxes dominated by images with headlines underneath. Clicking on a box expands the image, and in some cases reveals an animated gif, and an opportunity to “know more.” The Nieman Journalism Lab spoke with Klein about the new site.

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The people behind the Pulitzer winning fact-checking site PolitiFact, which fact checks elected officials, have announced their new site PunditFact will apply the same methodology to verify the statements made by pundits and other media personalities.

JTM named as one of the 105 vital sources for journalists

Journalismdegree.org released a guide to “the new media landscape” that includes “105 vital sources,” and JTM made the list. For anyone interested in the changing news ecology, this list is sure to yield some gems you haven’t seen before.

Job(s) of the Week

Yes! is looking for an Executive Editor.

For the past 75 years, the Nieman Foundation has offered one-year fellowships. Applications are still available.

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The Illumination is a curated collection of stories about journalism innovation, notable job opportunities, grants and updates about Journalism that Matters. It is distributed to e-mail subscribers, through the JTM Google Group, and posted to the Illuminations blog.

Illuminations Blog, JTM News

Project Censored: Illuminating untold stories for more than 35 years

When the American people reelected Richard Nixon in 1972, Carl Jensen, a professor at Sonoma State University, was bewildered. Less than a month before the election, Woodward and Bernstein reported that the FBI had determined that the Watergate break-in was part of “a massive campaign of political spying and sabotage conducted on behalf of President Nixon’s re-election and directed by officials of the White House and the Committee for the Re-election of the President.” And yet, that story wouldn’t resonate nationally until after the election, and Nixon won by a landslide.

HI_REZ_MFF_PC_LOGO_Same_typeJensen formed Project Censored four years later to research how the American media was failing to provide all the information the people need to make informed decisions. Today, the non-profit organization is still going strong and just released its 2014 edition, a 429-page compendium that includes in-depth media analysis and a list of the top 25 stories most overlooked by the national media.

While the media landscape has changed in some ways over the past 37 years that Project Censored has been uncovering overlooked stories, many of the problems Jensen identified long ago remain a challenge today.

The United States has a free press guaranteed by its constitution; it has the world’s most sophisticated communications system; and it has more independent media outlets disseminating more information 24-hours a day than anywhere else in the world. Considering our autonomous press and the quantity of information that daily bombards us, we should be a very knowledgeable populace. Unfortunately, high technology and a free press do not guarantee a well-informed society.

While these words could have been written yesterday, they were pulled from an essay Jensen first published in 1989. Jensen continues:

The top overlooked story of the year revealed one of the underlying causes of “censorship” and issued a warning of what is to come. Media critic Ben Bagdikian revealed that just 29 corporations controlled half or more of all the media business in America in 1987. More disturbing, Wall Street analysts, specializing in the media, predicted that only half a dozen giant firms will control most of our media by the 1990s. The full potential impact of this information cartel on a free society is still ignored by our press.

As we all know, Bagdikian’s predictions have proven prescient. This is just one of many stories that Project Censored spotlighted well before it became a national story. Last year’s #1 censored story was America’s emerging police state, one that exploded onto the national airwaves following the Edward Snowden revelations. Each edition of the book includes a section that takes a look at what’s happened to the stories highlighted in previous years, and many of the stories grow legs after being memorialized in the book.

While Project Censored began as a research project at Sonoma State with students from the university contributing, the research has since expanded to universities across the country under the leadership of its current director Mickey Huff, a professor at Diablo Valley College, which is located about a 45 minute drive from San Francisco. This past year, 56 professors at 18 different colleges worked together to identify and analyze more than 200 under reported stories to create a list of the top 25.

Huff and his predecessor Peter Philips, a professor at Sonoma State who took over for Jensen in the 90s, have distilled a replicable process that anyone can use with any news story to assess its role in the media landscape and to help determine if it belongs in Project Censored’s compendium. But that process, is more than just a curation tool for generating content for the book, says Huff. Project Censored has created a curriculum for media literacy that forces critical thinking about the stories we read.

Students participating with Project Censored review stories by asking a series of questions to help determine if a particular news item is a strong candidate for the book. He or she must first decide whether the story is timely and verify that the information reported is factual and accurate. The student will then research other stories that have been published on the issue to examine how the story fits within the larger media landscape and that the story hasn’t been adequately covered elsewhere.

“The books are the process of teaching media literacy,” he said. “We’ve taught several thousand students. … The books are the fruit of the labor.”

Project Censored plans to continue to seed the model for media analysis by sharing it on their Web site and speaking to the availability of the curriculum at public events and during conversations with professors and other educators. Huff said he is hoping to see the number of participants contributing research continue to grow, and that individuals unaffiliated with any institutions are invited to help with the research as well.

Beyond the list of censored stories, each book also includes a wide range of media analysis. This year Huff invited Journalism that Matters to contribute an essay, which I wrote, for a chapter on “Media Democracy in Action: Free Press and Free Speech Advocates that Make a Difference.” That chapter also includes essays by Daniel Ellsberg, Sunsara Taylor, Ken Walden and others.

Huff and Philips also host a Project Censored radio show for the Pacifica Networks, and there is even an award-winning documentary about their work that was just released this year. But despite this organizational success, Project Censored is still struggling to remain economically sustainable.

“We are undergoing some growing pains, and we don’t get foundation money much anymore as we’ve pissed off a lot of people over the past 37 years. So we are working on getting as many $5 to $10 a month subscribers to help us operate our Web sites and outreach,” said Huff. “We would love to be in hundreds of schools and have the radio on-air in as many places as we can to spread the word, especially about critical thinking and media literacy.”

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The Changing News and Information Ecosystem: What Can You Do?

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How can you contribute to a healthy journalism ecosystem?

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Picture a news and information ecosystem that not only informs, but also engages, inspires, and activates.  Imagine journalism that helps us navigate through uncertainty, contextualizing conflict and struggle within aspirations and hope.

Envision telling stories of possibility, highlighting diverse voices, using diverse forms, and engaging with each other around them.

How do we do it?

Journalism is no longer a spectator sport. Whether you are a journalist, an educator, a technologist, or a member of the public, get involved in creating a news and information ecosystem that meets the needs of communities and democracy.

The dominant narrative of how we organize to get stuff done is shifting from hierarchies to networks. No longer just from the top, change happens when people take responsibility for what they love. So join a hub of activity, as many are already doing.  Or link people and organizations to each other. Journalism That Matters (JTM) aspires to be a learning hub for connecting journalism innovators.  So tell JTM about what you’re doing by commenting below and join the conversation.

If you’re not sure where to begin, I offer some ideas:

Learn about change.  We live in interesting times.  Disruption is a normal part of the landscape.  The more each of us understands change, the better equipped we are to work with it. Resources abound! My book, Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity is one roadmap.

Seek possibilities.  Turn deficit into possibility by asking questions that uncover hopes and aspirations.  Questions like: given what’s happening, what’s possible now?  Or what’s the best possible outcome from this situation?

Many people focus on what they can’t do, what the problems are, what isn’t possible. When someone says, “The problem is x,” ask, “What would it look like if it were working?” If someone says, “I can’t do that,” ask, “What would you like to do?”

Invite others to join you.  You can have more fun and help each other grow into the habit of asking possibility-oriented questions. Over time it will change the nature and quality of our discourse.

Engage. There’s something for everyone in the emerging media landscape. Take a course in media literacy.  Or teach one.

If you are a journalist, remember: engagement is essential for journalism to be relevant and trusted in the digital world. Take the TAO of journalism pledge to be Transparent, Accountable, and Open. Check out resources on engagement at J-Lab, including the 2012 Report on Engaging Audiences.  The Poynter Institute has a variety of articles about engagement.  Or take a look at the ideas in my earlier post on engagement.

If you are not a journalist and you have a story to tell, do so.  Whether text, audio, video, or other media, provide content for a news outlet, your own blog, or social media.  If writing isn’t for you, find media that cover places and issues that matter to you and jump in. Point family, friends, and groups that you are part of to stories that you think make a difference.

Use social media, like Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest and Facebook, to discuss stories with friends and strangers. Or to share what you learn about using social media.  Comment on stories that move you. Organize around them.  If fact, learn about hosting conversations. The National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation is a great resource for practices and people.

In other words, whatever your roles in the ecosystem, make media, share it, and use it.

Invite diversity.  We spend so much of our time with people like ourselves!  Whenever you engage with media, notice who else needs to be involved and speak up. Reach out. Support media makers who tell stories that incorporate diverse perspectives. And remember, if you wish to engage with people from a different age, race, culture, etc., go to them. Be humble. Listen. Learn. They are more likely to join with you if they see that you are interested in a respectful partnership.

Ultimately, these actions are not just about the quality of our news and information. They are about cultivating societies that are compassionate, creative, and wise. Able to deal with whatever complexities come our way. Each of us has a role to play. So step in.

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Got something to contribute?

A tip? An article? A comment? Journalism That Matters is gathering resources. You can add by:

Unless you explicitly request otherwise, I will post comments received from all media in the comment space below.

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Read the other posts in this series:

The Possibility Principle

The Engagement Principle

The Diversity Principle

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Journalism for Navigating Uncertainty: The Diversity Principle

Innovation demands diversity, using our differences creatively.

I was speaking with an African-American colleague about the news. Growing up in an economically disadvantaged part of Los Angeles, the stories never reflected his reality. So he never developed a news habit.

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His story points to a key aspect of diversity — diversity of voice. The Maynard Institute’s Fault Lines consider race, class, gender, generation and geography. Religion and political persuasion, the roles we play and our different world views are also dimensions of diverse voice.

In the context of news and information that serves communities and democracy, diversity of form and funding also play a role.  More on them shortly.

Why Diversity of Voice?

If you want innovation, engage the diversity of people in a system. The usual suspects tend to have the same conversation and reach the same conclusions.  In the U.S., traditional media has never reflected the public’s diversity. The American Society of News Editors (ASNE) 2013 census showed 12% of newsroom employees are of color when, according to Wikipedia, the minority population is 28%. Emerging media is creating a similar demographic mix. J-Lab’s 2009 database of new media makers identified about 10% of foundation money – a principle funding source for new ventures – went to those focused on communities of color. That funding mix merits changing!

Journalism that helps us understand multiple perspectives on complex issues helps us navigate through them. Welcoming conditions and possibility-oriented questions set the stage for diversity that sparks creativity. Action is easier because no one needs to be “sold.” Everyone can find themselves in the desired outcomes and works to realize them. For example, the Oakland Tribune is discovering a new relationship with its audience through Oakland Voices, which trains residents as citizen journalists.

In system change, a turning point occurs when we see how we fit together as a whole. We begin to operate as a social body, using differences to discover solutions none could create on their own.

Consider a sports stadium for experiencing many angles. The scoreboard shows the state of play. Cameras spotlight action on the field and in the audience. Television extends reach. Statistics online let professional commentators and ordinary people put activities in perspective. Immersed, we understand the experience from many perspectives.

Imagine journalism that makes the state of the economy, education, or a war that visible. What if we could see how different populations, ages, functions, ethnicities look at it? Shared goals and aspirations emerge along with increased willingness to hear other perspectives. Compassion deepens. We become creative partners to reach wiser answers to the challenges of a complex world.

 

Why Diversity of Form?

Beyond newspapers, radio, and TV, social media, like Twitter and Facebook, are growing forms of distribution. Smart phones and tablets create new opportunities for how we get news. Less obvious forms for sharing stories include comedy, video games, and hip-hop.

These forms reach people who opt out of traditional news sources. In 2012, Pew Research Center found the Colbert Report and The Daily Show were the most watched news shows for those under 30. As in the days when troubadours brought news to town, Jasiri X raps the news. Using an editor to fact check stories, he reaches an audience most newspapers never will.

American Public Media (APM), content provider to National Public Radio stations, developed an online game, Budget Hero, to balance the federal budget. The game educates players on the consequences of their choices. With participant demographic data, APM can report on perspectives across the spectrum of age, geography, political party, and other dimensions. Isn’t that an exciting basis for a conversation?

Not every form is great for every type of story. Yet each form has something to contribute to the larger discourse. Imagine the role that Twitter would have played had it existed when Watergate was unfolding. To engage a wider diversity of voices, consider emerging forms.

 

Why Diversity of Funding?

With advertising waning, who will pay for quality content? Numerous experiments, including subscription services, pay walls, co-ops, member donations, and government funding are all being tested.

When journalism provides the news and information we need to be free and self-governing through engagement, a possibility orientation, and a diversity of voices using a diversity of forms, the public will fund journalism in ways that no one has yet envisioned.

So how do we get to such a state? While I have an answer, I know something about the path. Join me next time to explore this question. But first, here are a few tips on working with diversity.

 

Tips on Diversity

  • Be curious. A desire to know, to learn, to be open to the unknown prepares us to engage with difference.
  • Clarify intention. Why go to the trouble unless there is something you value? Intention—purpose—acts as a compass, setting direction while you travel in the wilderness.
  • Consider who/what makes up the system. What functions, constituencies, or roles are involved? What mix of race, class, gender, geography, and generation is important?
  • Go where people different from you live and work. Be humble. Listen. Learn. Reach out. Show that you are interested in partnership.
  • Invite others. Complex challenges require us all.  Reach out to those who ARE IN — with Authority, Resources, Expertise, Information, and Need. People notice different aspects of a situation. With a shared intention, more eyes and ears, hearts and minds, increase the chances of uncovering the gems.
  • Take a risk.  New outcomes come from new actions.  By definition, that involves the unknown.
  • Say “yes” and welcome what comes. Working with the unexpected increases the likelihood of creative outcomes.
  • Expect messiness. Difference brings disruptions. Use them creatively by working through issues that surface. It prepares you for increasing scale and scope.
  • Develop equanimity. Being calm in a storm increases the likelihood of surviving and bringing others with you.

 

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A tip? An article? A comment? I’ve started gathering resources. We need more diversity resources! So please add by

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Reflections on last week’s post: The Engagement Principle

Mike Fancher, retired Executive Editor, Seattle Times and Journalism That Matters board member, offered a resource: Participatory Journalism: Guarding Open Gates at Online Newspapers by Jane Singer and others. He said the authors spoke to the idea of “people inside and outside the newsroom communicating not only to, but with, one another.”

Check out the comment from Kevin Fleming, Master’s Student in Mass Public Communications and Technology at Colorado State University, at An Expanded Purpose for Journalism. He writes about the potential for newspaper involvement in deliberative engagement with the public.

I asked people to respond to what makes something newsworthy in a word or phrase.  Via Twitter and LinkedIn, you told me.  In a Wordl, here’s what you said:

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Read the other posts in this series: