Hanif on Media

Time weighs in with another update on a question that no matter where I go, comes up as soon as folks become aware of my news journalism background — “What’s happening to our newspaper(s)?” A nod to Jan Norris, mother hen to a bunch of us former Palm Beach Posties, for the alert on the Times piece.

Interestingly, the Time article’s comments underscore what most news organizations still are slow to recognize: Thanks to the Web, their craft has morphed from a monologue to a conversation.

There’s another problem: In our soon to be so-called “majority minority”  country, the Time piece still was talking about local news for, basically, whites.

In contrast, although The Coastal Star covers a niche of mostly white oceanside towns south of Palm Beach, it also regularly includes my Interfaith21 column, seeking to cover the waterfront of diversity on area and other spiritual traditions.

In addition, the South Florida Times, another newspaper for which I write, is fulling its self-stated mission of “elevating the dialogue” in print and online from an African-American perspective, led by Publisher Robert Beatty, former Miami Herald general counsel and VP, and Brad Bennett, a former Miami Herald and Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel editor.

The link from the Time article to “25 sites you can’t live without” also illustrates the problem. With no disrespect to any on the list, or to anyone else, does the Time editor really think we can’t live without Television Without Pity.com‘s TV series recaps and reviews, where on a scan of the home page, nary a soon-to-be-majority face was to be found?

Again, given that our children’s children’s children are likely to be paying for our nation’s misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan, wouldn’t the range of information and views at Altmuslim or Informed Comment be more topical for such a list?

Or — since we’re on the subject of “What’s happening to our newspaper(s)?” —  how about an invaluable source for media watchers — the Journalisms online column by veteran Richard Prince, of whom not so coincidentally, commentator Faye Anderson said on her Facebook page today: “Happy Birthday to the Prince of Peacemaking’ among old and new media.”

In any event, it appears that the “hyperlocal” story soon will not be so whitebread.