FAIRFAX -- USA Today Executive Producer Joel Sucherman discussed the impact of the Internet on news journalism with George Mason University’s Online Journalism class on Tuesday!
“The Perfect Storm” is how Sucherman relates the extremely turbulent times in media However, even though there has been a steady drum of layoff announcements, Sucherman says that “There’s still a huge need for watchdog journalism for storytelling. That hasn’t changed; that will never change. People are in a huge need of information. It’s just about finding the people, and figuring out how they want to consume that information.”
When a student asked Sucherman how USA Today transitioned from print to online journalism and the challenges it had to face, Sucherman replied that USA Today first went on the Web in 1995 and basically just put the newspaper online. However, over the course of a couple a years, more columns were added.
As the news organization transitioned from print to online journalism, the traditional print side employees were worried that if a story was put up on the Internet in the evening, other new organizations would discover it and by the next morning USA Today’s story wouldn’t be exclusive.
However, there was no need to worry about this because consumers expected the news in real-time. If they didn’t find it on USA Today's Website, they would most likely be able to find it on someone else’s.
Because of the many tools available, such as cell phones with picture messaging, twitter, and blogs, Sucherman says that now anyone can be a reporter and relay what they are seeing. No longer is there such a huge focus on a news organization having a printing press.
USA Today found that not only do people want to get involved and comment on stories, but also they actually have a lot to say. On USA Today’s Website, users comment by telling USA Today which stories they recommend to others and find important. This two way communication allows users to get involved.
Another feature USA Today had provided during the elections to keep users involved was a "Candidate Match Game." Users were asked questions about the campaigns and candidates, in which a database filtered the users answers and showed them which candidate most represented them and their views. This feature was created to help users get rid of the noise, such as things like which candidate is the most good-looking and which candidate speaks the best, and help them understand the real issues these candidates stand on.
USA Today, founded in 1982, hopes to serve as a forum for better understanding and unity to help make the USA truly one nation. To follow their mission and adjust to the available tools and new ways of obtaining news, USA Today took action by fostering those tools and creating a network of journalism through its reader voice.
This reader voice, part of USA Today’s version of a “three-legged stool” gives their readers a say by allowing them to comment directly, as well as allowing them to reach reporters. This section of USA Today’s “three-legged stool” also allows reporters to reach out to users and expose the best stories.
Sucherman emphasized how people are still consuming more and more news and that it’s just in different ways. The world still needs journalism; it’s just a matter of finding the best way to translate data and stories into a way that is visually interesting to consumers in relation to the competition and other news organizations.