By Tracy Schario Johnson, APR
Google News is often viewed as “the devil who caused the downfall of journalism or the savior of last resort,” explained Josh Cohen, (left in photo) senior business product manager for Google News, before a roomful of more than 100 journalists at Google’s D.C. office on March 3. James Fallows of the Atlantic Monthly (right in photo) led the discussion on “Google, Journalism and the Digital Era.”
There’s no denying that publishers have been slow to offer consumers a unique Web experience that differs from the printed product. “The Internet is intimate. A newspaper is all things to all people,” said Cohen. “That doesn’t work on the Web. You have to add value…. The local monopoly on news is done.”
Fallows framed the conflict, “Information wants to be free, and journalists want to be paid.” After more than a century of owning the news, newspaper publishers must adapt to the new delivery platforms — YouTube, Twitter, Text Messaging — and accept the new competitors — citizen journalists.
Other insights from Cohen:
1) Innovate and be willing to experiment. Google disaggregated information. Journalism has been a bundler of information. Newspapers must reinvent themselves to survive in the post-bundling era.
2) Personalize the news. Google is working with media to re-envision the user experience. For example, if you have been following a story, certain basic information may be omitted and only the most recent facts would be shared. If it’s your first visit to a news story, you would receive necessary background to understand the context.
3) “The social age of the Web is a hugely important driver informing news.”
4) Free data on the Web is often meaningless as presented. Google offers a means to organize.
5) Advertisers will continue to migrate online. Google is working on the next generation platform of display ads.
6) Mobile access is better overseas. “I got a signal in a coal mine in China.”
Fallows closed the interview asking “Who will catch Google napping?”
“The nature of the Web is fiercely competitive,” replied Cohen. “We remained focused. Search (technology) is not solved.”