sensemaking preso

The Future of

ContextSensemaking – June 2010

Matt Thompson, NPR

Three big problems

Three big problemsopportunities!

The backstory problem

http://news.google.com/

Familiarity with a news story

New to the story

Somewhat familiar

Deeply familiar

Different news needsfor different users

New to the story

Somewhat familiar

Deeply familiar

What’s changed recently?

What’s the latest?

What’s the backstory?

7

“I sat out Kosovo.”

The overload problem

http://news.google.com

”““Learned helplessness”

The abundance of news and ubiquity of choice do not necessarily translate into a

better news environment for consumers ... 

Participants in this study showed signs of news fatigue; that is, they appeared

debilitated by information overload and unsatisfying news experiences ... 

 Ultimately news fatigue brought

many of the participants to a learned helplessness response.

The more overwhelmed or unsatis"ed they were, the less

effort they were willing to put in.

From an AP study of young news consumers

10

crime & scandal

crime & scandal

accidents & tra!c

accidents & tra!c

weather

weather

sports & celebrities

crime & scandal

“Learned helplessness”

The trust problem

http://news.google.com

Institutional voice = “objective”?

Easier: Clear villains and heroes

Beyond newsThe future of context.

The emerging industry

Rising superstars of the new journalism

Coverage of the Fort Hood shootings

The Tribune’s reaction“It seemed like a made-to-order test for the Texas Tribune.”“They scrambled the jets, made plans, and then – stayed put.”

From more stories to larger stories

educationinvestigation

investigation

investigation

political analysis

feature

The quest narrative

The Epic of Gilgamesh

The quest: a journalistic staple

The quest moves online

21

And you can participate

22

The beat reporter of the future

Washington Post reporter/columnist/blogger Ezra Klein

Imagine a news source that provided enough background

to make every story clear.

Imagine a news source that day after day became

not merely timelier, but more comprehensive.

Wikipedia’s lessons.

Wikipedia logo

It works for breaking news.From the New York Times, July 1, 2007:

It works for old news.The Bet: Winer vs. Nisenholtz

Blogs will outrank the

New York Times on Google!

Oh yeah?

Wikipedia trounced both blogs and the Times.

From workbench.cadenhead.org, 12.20.07

Wikipedia’s growth curve

From Wikimedia.org.

Wikipedia creator Jimmy Wales estimated in 2006 that 1,400 people contributed 74% of the site’s edits.*

* Source: “Who Writes Wikipedia?” – aaronsw.com, 9.24.06

Before 2008 staff cuts, the size of the New York Times newsroom was around 1,420.*

* Source: “Newsroom Cuts at the ‘New York Times’” – portfolio.com, 2.14.08

Traffic estimates:NYTimes.com vs. Wikipedia.orgSource: Quantcast.com

wikipedia

nytimes

The Times learned from Nisenholtz’s bet.

The world’s most transparent newsroom?

From Wikimedia.org.

In sum ...

The Epic of Gilgamesh

- Larger stories, not more stories

- Reveal the quest

- Toward timelessness

Thank you.

Matt ThompsonBlog: Newsless.orgTweet: @mthompsEmail: matt@emailmatt.com