At a staff meeting in the summer of 1995 then Lt.Gen. Tony Zinni told his staff the issue of getting him information in the future wasn’t going to be a problem. He went on to say the problem was going to be having too much information and the question was who and how it would be filtered so that he would receive only the critical information he needed to know to make strategic and tactical decisions. That’s the problem the press faces today.
The old days of getting our news from a newspaper, a TV or on the radio are gone. Today, as the result of technology we get news from more sources than we can imagine and the list grows. For my final paper I want to answer the question, “What role should the press play in avoiding information overload while satisfying consumption demands?”
On Columbia Journalism Review’s web site for November/December 2008 they have an article that discusses just that. Bree Nordenson addresses “journalism’s battle for relevance in an age of too much information.” (Overload!)
I want to explore the role of the press in how they do – and can or should – be looking at methods of distribution based on consumers’ avenues for consumption and how the current economic conditions will support or hinder those possibilities in the future.
I want to look at decisions by the Christian Science Monitor to reduce printed publication and focus on on-line content. I want to look at why we’re seeing so much video on news web sites. Is that a business or journalistic decision? Economic conditions are forcing TV newsrooms to back off conversion to HD video but yet to start shooting in 16:9 aspect ratio?
Tony Zinni’s concern in 1995 isn’t all that different than what heads of news organizations are facing today.
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