Girl Journalist

As a journalism graduate student attending the University of Kansas, I can’t help but hear about Rob Curley, Lawrence.com and the “award winning” innovations created by the World Company. Why aren’t more newspapers, and television stations for that matter, doing these new, revolutionary, cool, exciting things?

Many editors and managers have come to Lawrence and lamented about a lack of talent, but really, all it is is a lack of vision. There are many talented designers, programmers and editors graduating from journalism schools every year. Why not give them the resources and the power to change your product?

I think Disney CEO, Bob Iger provides an excellent example how, by focusing on producing “world-class content” and exploiting new technology, a media company, even a large organization like Disney, can survive, even thrive. Shouldn’t creating great content be the goal for every newspaper and television outlet? It should, and I believe it is, for most. But saying it, and doing it, are two very different things. In today’s digital and information-obsessed world, how can any business expect to survive without innovation and technology? This isn’t the beginning of the end for mass media, it is an opportunity for revolution.

In a recent BusinessWeek online article, Disney Builds a Better Mousetrap, Iger was quoted as saying to investors, “Our No. 1 strategic priority is creating great content… And No. 2 is the application of technology to improve our production’s distribution.”

Disney controls few TV stations; only ten in top markets around the U.S., so, Disney is looking for ways to get in.

While most media companies freak-out at the thought of distributing content via iPods, Disney took a chance and ended up selling more than $1.5 million downloads through iTunes.

“We won’t let traditional business practices stand in the way of delivering our content to consumers,” Iger told analysts. Disney, he said, has to be “committed to innovation and experimentation.”

According to Disney’s CFO, Tom Staggs, the sales on iTunes did not reduce other income streams like advertising and syndication. And, Disney executives predict that two new series, “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives” will generate more than $1 billion in profit.

Just look at “Lost,” it’s the most popular downloaded TV show on iTunes (‘Lost’ leads TV past the screen, The Kansas City Star, Jan. 23, 2006). “Lost” is thinking outside the box, marketing to a new age, with a new kind of multimedia model. Stephen McPherson, president of ABC prime-time entertainment said, “the idea that great content can be used in a multitude of different ways is a wonderful challenge and a wonderful opportunity” (‘Lost’ leads TV past the screen, The Kansas City Star, Jan. 23, 2006). This series was “the test case for the marriage between new technology and creative content” (‘Lost’ leads TV past the screen, The Kansas City Star, Jan. 23, 2006).

Watch and learn media executives, watch and learn. The future is now, and if you don’t change, someone else will come along and sweep you under the carpet. It’s not too late. There’s still time to hire creative forward-thinking individuals. There’s still time to transform. If the World Company can do it, if Disney can do it, so can you.