Eric Alterman - Does Print Journalism Have a Future?

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2008/03/26/Eric_Alterman_in_Conversation

Columnist and CUNY Professor of Journalism Eric Alterman speculates on the future of newspapers, in a conversation with FORA.tv founder and CEO Brian Gruber.

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Liberal columinst, blogger and author Eric Alterman sits down for an interview with FORA.tv Founder and CEO Brian Gruber to discuss his most recent book Why We're Liberals, the meaning of liberalism, and the state of politics in the United States.

Eric Alterman is distinguished professor of English at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York and professor of journalism at the Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, as well as the liberal columnist for The Nation and Altercation blogger for Media Matters for America(formerly at MSNBC.com) in Washington, DC, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC, where he writes and edits the "Think Again" column, a senior fellow (since 1985) at the World Policy Institute at The New School in New York, and a history consultant to HBO Films.

Alterman is the author of seven books, including the national bestsellers, What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News (2003, 2004), and The Book on Bush: How George W. (Mis)leads America (with Mark Green, 2004).

The others include: When Presidents Lie: A History of Official Deception and its Consequences, (2004, 2005). His Sound & Fury: The Making of the Punditocracy (1992, 2000), won the 1992 George Orwell Award and his It Ain't No Sin to be Glad You're Alive: The Promise of Bruce Springsteen (1999, 2001), won the 1999 Stephen Crane Literary Award, and Who Speaks for America? Why Democracy Matters in Foreign Policy, (1998).

His newest book is Why We're Liberals: A Political Handbook to Post-Bush America, (2008).

Brian Gruber is Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of FORA.tv.

Gruber has twenty years experience successfully building and marketing media enterprises. As the senior marketing officer for a range of respected media institutions, he has managed billion dollar revenue budgets and large and small marketing teams. As the first marketing director for C-SPAN, he built its affiliate sales and marketing organization, launching C-SPAN II with the largest subscriber base ever for a cable network at launch. As director of marketing for News Corp's FOXTEL, he helped build the most successful cable television brand in Australia, going from number three to number one in cable subscriptions, brand equity and consumer awareness. As the head of marketing of the largest urban divisions of 3 top ten cable companies (MSO's), he turned flat or negative subscriber growth into substantial gains. And as president of g/media and Principals.com, he has helped more than twenty new media companies develop brands, marketing strategies, and consumer products.

He also acted as the media advisor and new media producer for the World Affairs Council of Northern California, the nation's most prolific presenter of quality world affairs events.

Category:

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[taritrott]

I disagree with his claim that "there's very little reporting in TV at all". NBC Nightly News is an example of excellent television reporting... it's the best program in the business. I recall recently excellent reporting from NBC after the Haitian earth quake, the same from CNN and Anderson Cooper. This man is wrong. The spoken word will always be more powerful than the written.

[croscream]

The real big websites will be able to pull enough funding from advertisement as the old newspapers because some of these websites will grow big enough to pull in hundreds of millions of people. some only a few million, but when you can link to other websites it is just a matter of concentrating on the juicy newsarticles and allow independant websites to post there work on your website.

[croscream]

Writers and people with special writing skills will become members of small communities hoping to promote there person and there writing, something unheared of in the newspaper industry. Thousands of young writers will try this out. Then when we have many and broadly specialized websites, the communities can create there own webcontent. New and bigger types of newssites will evolve.

[croscream]

For example; there will be numerous good quality websites that deal with average grounded news. Next we will see websites that specialise and become hubs for entire communities looking for the same kind of information. The police website will report on crimes, the courts will document some of there workings online, churches will use there backhand to fund good quality newssites, universities and learning institution will use some of there funding to create learning centered newspages.

[croscream]

Why will we keep good news reporting? People need reliable information about the economy, religion, science, crime, education, arts; newspapers don't usually deliver good information about these subjects; magazines, books and websites usually do. The web will give way to more professional newsbroadcasts and special informationportal that will link you to smaller, more thematised information websites.