Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Rocket Science: The Future of the Newspaper of the Future

Rocket Science: The Future of the Newspaper of the Future

Extra! Extra! Read all about It!

There is a wave overtaking newspapers all over the country. Some might even say a Tsunami, as newspapers all across the nation are being consolidated, cut back, shut down, and or transitioned into Internet only "publications." A lot of the turnover that has been occuring in the newspaper business has been attributed to a sagging economy, and the slumping sales of commercial advertising in local and national publications alike. Some people like to blame "the Internet," for making it impossible for old fashioned print publications like newspapers and magazines to compete for readership, or as the kids like to say these days, viewership. Others like to blame television for ushering in the era of the end of the Free Press as we knew it. Some like to blame private corporate interests for trying to shutdown critical free speech by shutting down critical local papers.

The reality is that local publications are most vulnerable to the vagaries of local economics, and most harshly feel the bite when local business cuts back their spending on local newspaper advertising. The irony of "The Free Press," is that it is, as it always has been completely reliant on the sale of commercial advertising within its pages as its sole means of support. The irony for local business, is that marketshare in large part is driven by presence in the local press, and when local presence goes down, so goes business. And, unfortunately this unsustainable down-spiraling is representative of the current state of the newspaper industry far and near, too often leaving consolidation as the only viable alternative to shutting down, for local businesses and local papers alike, if they are lucky.

It is interesting to see the management of newspapers all across the country attempt to deal with either the perceived opportunities, or in some cases challenges presented by the nearly ubiquitous adoption of Internet Access throughout our society. In many ways, it can be seen as an historial repeat of the collision of newspapers with the advent of television broadcasting more than fifty years ago, and it is likely that the result will similarly be a place for Internet News as there has been for Television News and always has been and always will be a place for Printed News, well into the future. Upcountry Maui is fortunate that a decision that could have just easily have been made to close this very publication for sound economic reasons based on the lack of local businesses purchasing advertsing in this local paper was not made, by a management team that instead is creativly attempting to incorporate the Internet as a cost-effective (to them,) if ephemeral, supplement to the more expensive (to them,) and now quartly, print edition, as current local advertising revenue supports.

Newspapers have always been subject to a certain elitism that television broadcast news never suffered, namely the ability to read -- well. With the introduction of television broadcast news, the smart newspaper money realized the opportunity to expand their advertising marketshare through the acquisition of local broadcast stations, often in the name of their consumer product manufacturing owners. Chicago's Wrigley family figured out this formula famously, selling chewing gum advertised in their local publication, The Chicago Tribune, and on their television station, (WGN stands for the Worlds Greatest Newspaper,) often while the public enjoyed broadcasts of Baseball Games featuring the Chicago Cubs, at Wrigley field (not a coincidence.) That is a lot of chewing gum. It is likely that todays smart money is starting to figure this out, readying to envelope the Internet within its all encompassing fold.

The challenge faced by today's print publications will be surmounted by management teams that learn how to leverage the value of the Internet along side the value of traditional print media, without being subsumed by the very characteristics that make the potential opportunities presented by the Internet to newspaper publishers compelling. "How much of Page One should be devoted to Internet Advertisements?" "Should Letters to the Editor require attribution?" "How about a forum for anonymous personal attacks on Letter Writers, or maybe even government sponsored, fascist propoganda?" "Anyone else have any creative ideas how to raise on-line advertising revenue?" Ultimately what separates the News from the News Paper is the paper. For the paper brings with it a credibility of persistince that the ephemeral Internet -- with malleable "facts," a handy delete key, and anonymous send button -- never can. Now that is something to chew over.

Go Cubs!

Samuel Latt Epstein is the Executive Director of the Maui Media Lab Foundation School of Media, Arts and Science, a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity. Send your email or comments to rocketscience@mauimedialab.com

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Rocket Science: Hawaii's New Digital Public Access Community Television Service, PULELEHUA.TV

13 August, 2009

Rocket Science: Hawaii's New Digital Public Access Community Television Service, PULELEHUA.TV

The unique nature of Hawaii's multi island geography has always provided unique challenges that have had to be met by those that have chosen to live here. One of the biggest challenges has been to provide accurate, up to date and locally relevant news, information and educational opportunities not only to the residents of our big cities on O'ahu and Maui, but throughout our Island chain, especially on the outer islands and communities typically labeled as traditionally underserved. It should be unsurprising that given the geographical challenges of a community living on islands spread over a few hundred miles of ocean that Hawaii has come to lead the nation in terms of remote tele-education technology including the provision of educational closed circuit television, public access television and public internet access.

Hawaii' boasts the nations most involved Public Access Television community, by far. Again this is not surprising because public access television, till the recent introduction of public access internet, has been the only way for people within their communities and between their islands to share commentary, questions, ideas and solutions to the issues of governance everyone is faced with every day. And, while the citizens of Oahu have every right to be proud of how they have sheparded the public funding they were entrusted with to construct one of the Nations leading public access stations Olelo, provisioning public access television services to communities throughout Oahu, it has been indeed unfortunate to witness public access dollars being stolen, misappropriated, embezzeled, redirected into political campaigns and just downright wasted by the "executives" and "lawyers" of the PEG Access organizations on Hawaii's other islands where accountability of the public funds has been lax, and a perceived lack of enforcement has been adopted as a license to both steal, and enforce the denial of access to others. Additionally, the upcoming February 2009 transition of broadcast television to digital is causing additional concerns about the future of Public Access Community Television in the Islands of Hawaii.

Fortunately, Hawaii's new Digital Public Access Community Television Service, PULELEHUA.TV, now serving approximately 30,000 viewers each month, is now providing the quality of service to Hawaii's outer islands, including Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kauai, and the Big Island, that all of Oahu's residents have come to expect as exemplified by Olelo Community Television under the leadership of Keali`i Lopez as well as Olelo's previous directors.

PULELEHUA.TV, allows anyone in the community to provide community television programming, just by uploading it on the internet, just like Youtube.

PULELEHUA.TV, also allows anyone in the community to create their own channel, mixing and matching community television programs for others to watch. (Disclaimer: Maui Media Lab offers encoding and uploading classes as well as a paid service, matching students with community television producers that would rather not do encoding and uploading themselves.)

And the best part, is that it can be watched, free of charge, on any digital television, computer or handheld device with a wired or wireless Internet connection, anywhere in the Islands and anywhere in the world.

Many of the issues that used to be a problem with Hawaii's old analog public access television system have been solved by PULELEHUA.TV. Since channels are created by people in the community, and their is no limit on either the number of channels, or the content of any individual channel, there is no "corrupt executive" for with which to lay blame of favoritism or censorship with regard to community television programming. Further, PULELEHUA.TV works for broadband, direct satellite and IPTV customers as well as for customers of Hawaii's exclusive cable television franchise. PULELEHUA.TV is truly community television made by the community for the community and is not subject to arbitrary "certification fees," "literacy tests," or capricious censorchip by corrupt CEO's.

You can find many of your favorite programs on PULELEHUA.TV including Maui Weather Today with Glenn James and other programming from the University of Hawaii, State of Hawaii Department of Education, and of course all of Hawaii's Community Television Producers, whom the Maui Media Lab Foundation would like to thank for the time and efforts to shine their light and focus their lens on our Island communities.

Free Digital Public Access Hawaii Community Television, PULELEHUA.TV, Watch It!

Sam Epstein is Executive Director of the Maui Media Lab Foundation School of Media Arts & Science, a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity.