Trouble is too many corporate executives stuck in the 1980s.
The future of journalism is coming in a few days, courtesy of the National Post. The Post is
launching a new site that's going to be all video games, all the time.
That's right, breaking news about video games, the latest gossip about video games and, of course, in-depth analysis of video games.
The new site will "peek behind the curtain to bring you the stories of the people and the studios working to develop video games across this great country." (No laughing please while our national anthem is playing).
According to the Entertainment Software Association (the same folks who supplied the PR numbers to the Post - and of course, PR numbers are never wrong), this "great country" is a world leader in video game piracy, (we're right up there with China, Malaysia and Russia, but Brazil is catching up). I'm sure the new Post web site will cover that.
The nice thing about covering video gaming is that there are tons of free handout pictures and press releases. (Not that I'm being cynical).
If the National Post was smart (ha!), they would've launched this site last week when its *exact* target audience was in Toronto for the Fan Expo. All Canadian gamer blogs would've picked it up. But who wants all that free publicity from its target audience?
The Post should've been at the Fan Expo, not only in terms of coverage and sponsorship but also a physical presence (i.e. real people). Oh well, maybe next year.
Nothing like good planning.
Maybe this will be a video gaming site for people over 45, (i.e. the folks who shop at Sears. I hear corduroy is making a comeback this season). In that case, carry on.
Someday, newspapers will understand the Web. Or maybe not.
Why do people line up for hours to get into one particular "cool" niteclub?
It's not about the club, it's about the people themselves.** That particular club is cool (at least for now) and people want to be seen there.
On the Web, what's the magic word? It's that horrible cliché word:
social.**
The Web gives us a sense of being part of something**, being connected**, just like when we're at the cool niteclub.
So, if a newspaper throws up a web site for, say, video gaming, who the heck cares when there are 6,157 other sites that already (over)cover that same subject?
Over-saturated was a lovely Kodak term.
There's something called "journalism" and there's a famous saying:
"Cover less, uncover more" (attributed to Bland Tomkinson). What could happen if these two are combined?
** People need three things in life (other than the obvious food, water and a D800):
• a sense of love.
• a sense of belonging, being part of something bigger than themselves.
• a sense of hope.
Note that all powerful photographs include some of these. The most popular songs always include one or two of these. The Web revolves around these. Twitter and Facebook depend on two of these. Apple's marketing is based on one of these.
So, if a paper launches yet another web site about the same old same old, one must ask, why? What's going to be uncovered that we don't already know or can't get from 6,157 other sites or direct from the source?
Or to put it simply: what's in it for me? How will it fulfill any of my three needs?
I've said it before, fire a few editors and hire a behavioral psychologist and learn how to incorporate some of those three things into a newspaper (print and web). It's not difficult.