There are few greater disconnects than between the cerebral New York Review of Books, a small-circulation bastion of the literary elite, and BuzzFeed.
But part two of a three-part series on this era in digital journalism by Michael Massing, former executive editor of the Columbia Journalism Review, confronts the hot digital site head on. Here’s what you need to know about his analysis in “Digital Journalism: the Next Generation”:
1. There are no photos of cats or any listicles.
2. Massing’s first installment was not upbeat about first generation digital sites, such as The Huffington Post, which he finds tired (one notable exception is POLITICO.) He’s clearly more intrigued by BuzzFeed.
3. He is “convinced of its commitment to being a serious provider of news: there’s a sense of earnest aspiration about the place.”
4. There’s a big “but.” It’s this: “I was surprised by how conventional—and tame—most of its reports are. Much of BuzzFeed’s news feed seems indistinguishable from that of a wire service.”
5. Its technology strikes him as more pioneering than its content.
6. It needs to get bolder. “Otherwise, it will remain known mainly for its cat photos.”
7. Here’s another “but”: It has had huge impact (Massing calls it “mesmerizing”) on sites such as Quartz, Business Insider, Fusion and Vox, he finds.
8. Bigger picture: The audience fragmentation it symbolizes makes it harder for journalists across the board to have real impact because it simply “becomes harder for stories to find a foothold.”
9. Surprise: Traditional news organizations “retain an overwhelming edge” as far as impact. He cites an array of print-based stories in recent years that have produced a bigger bang than online fare.
10. Promises of both more long-form journalism online and the rise of “citizen journalism” haven’t panned out. As for the latter, reporting “is expensive and time-consuming and not something readily performed between shopping and the laundry.”
11. Surprise: He’s underwhelmed by the likes of Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight, which he argues symbolizes a “troubling tendency for digital journalism” to opt for the facile gathering of data rather than “picking up the phone or going into the field.”
12. He finds it ironic that a new digital medium that prides itself on its democratic essence and potential is, by and large, centralized in New York City and now “replicating the parochialism of the New York media elite.”
2. Massing’s first installment was not upbeat about first generation digital sites, such as The Huffington Post, which he finds tired (one notable exception is POLITICO.) He’s clearly more intrigued by BuzzFeed.
3. He is “convinced of its commitment to being a serious provider of news: there’s a sense of earnest aspiration about the place.”
4. There’s a big “but.” It’s this: “I was surprised by how conventional—and tame—most of its reports are. Much of BuzzFeed’s news feed seems indistinguishable from that of a wire service.”
5. Its technology strikes him as more pioneering than its content.
6. It needs to get bolder. “Otherwise, it will remain known mainly for its cat photos.”
7. Here’s another “but”: It has had huge impact (Massing calls it “mesmerizing”) on sites such as Quartz, Business Insider, Fusion and Vox, he finds.
8. Bigger picture: The audience fragmentation it symbolizes makes it harder for journalists across the board to have real impact because it simply “becomes harder for stories to find a foothold.”
9. Surprise: Traditional news organizations “retain an overwhelming edge” as far as impact. He cites an array of print-based stories in recent years that have produced a bigger bang than online fare.
10. Promises of both more long-form journalism online and the rise of “citizen journalism” haven’t panned out. As for the latter, reporting “is expensive and time-consuming and not something readily performed between shopping and the laundry.”
11. Surprise: He’s underwhelmed by the likes of Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight, which he argues symbolizes a “troubling tendency for digital journalism” to opt for the facile gathering of data rather than “picking up the phone or going into the field.”
12. He finds it ironic that a new digital medium that prides itself on its democratic essence and potential is, by and large, centralized in New York City and now “replicating the parochialism of the New York media elite.”
Once finished, you can check out the New York Review of Books’ more typical fare, including essays on Edward Hopper, “Picasso’s Broken Vow,” “Dreams and Anna Karenina” and the book, “The Visual World of Muslim India: The Art, Culture and Society of the Deccan in the Early Modern Era.” There are no listicles.
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