First of all, Jim Voorhies has this:

But his point is that we’re living in a monumental definition change of what is ”the press” these days and how the old press is dealing with the advent of the new press. Conventional media has lost it’s seat as the source of news. Any of us can break a story as easily as WKRN or CBS or the Washington Post. (The only real difference is that we’ve got better taste.) And we have the potential for a substantially wider coverage than every local news outlet. If you didn’t feel all warm and comfy from the realization that we are a conglomerate, feel the power you now wield. People like Ariana Huffington are building a new world of communication. When she started, people in the conventional press snickered at the sheer effrontery.

I dig Jim.

Wait, that’s just one thing.

Bear with me campers. I feel like dried roadkill.

I’ll get back with you.

(I’m not death on a cracker. I just feel like death on a cracker. There is a difference though.)

The deadline isn’t 11 p.m. anymore. The deadline is now. She gets the content on the Web, she writes a longer, more elaborate story for print, and continues writing updates for the Web all day. After deadline passes, she’s still not done; she writes a blog about her experience. One reporter is being stretched in different directions, acting as a print reporter, TV anchor, radio reporter and Web guru. Thus, the concept of news “convergence.”

She’s right. Things aren’t just changing, they HAVE changed.

And if news sites and blogs aren’t real news, what are they then? Speculation? Pretend? The Dark Side? A passing fancy? Holy shit, someone should alert all major markets because most have invested loads of money in developing a user-friendly, multi-media formats.

They obviously have no clue this is all an illusion!

Can I just say I find this attitude incredibly frustrating? I am losing my ability to feel sympathetic here.

These changes in the market were NOT sudden. This wasn’t something unforeseen or unpredictable. The consumer shift from traditional media to online outlets has been occurring gradually for years now.

We’ve talked about this many, many times.

I’ve pulled my Paul Revere of the Press: “The Internet is Coming. The Internet is coming. We must develop a plan!”

The standard reply has been: (scoff) “We are a reputable newspaper. We are not in the business (shudder, snort) of running a website. That is not what we do. That is not our primary focus.”

Well, la-di-da.

And how is that working out for ya? Since online news is no longer popular as much as it is commonplace – have we arrived at a point yet where we accept newspapers either get with the program(ing) or try not to let the door hit em in their reputable asses on the way out?

I’ve been preaching this for years. For YEARS. I recently did an informal study of the local college in the area and there were more kids on Facebook and MySpace then I could keep count of. That, my friends, is the generation that will be buying advertising in five to ten years.

When folks have video on their cell phone and $100 cameras, anyone can break a story. It’s not a fly-by-night thing, it the way of the world now.

But alas, one can only be a preacher for so long without a local congregation.

Change is hard. Some of us know, however, and if/when it hits the pocketbook, then I think we will start seeing proactive maneuvering. Old School still clashes with the realities of technology and communication tools changing daily.

It’s not a new school, it’s just the way that it is.

Here’s the thing, it can’t be just done in a reporter’s spare time now or a secretary uploading content. Positions in the newsroom are evolving. I shoot video now but I’m having to train myself how to edit just like I did when radio through out the vinyl and reel-to-reels. I’ve destroyed a ton of content during the learning process but I’m trying to learn it nonetheless. It has to be it’s own entity. Larger newspapers know this. Smaller newspapers will have to recognize it soon and some of them are.

I’m 42 years old and I’ve seen a ton of changes in the past 24 years. Ever use wax and paste. I have. Even know what that is other than something spoke of fondly in Journalism 101 classes? Angela and John do.

Angela also says this which I agree with. Her post was incredible and you need to go read it all and she makes a good point here.

I believe there’s a way for the markets to not only coexist – but complement each other. In fact, I think they must.

I don’t think newspapers are dead by a long shot. But I do think they are going to have to quit living in denial. Als0, Put Demarcationville in your RSS feeds immediately.

Here is an example of how fast news spreads. Yesterday, Killa told me of a lockdown due to a bomb threat at MTSU that she had heard about on her RSS. I put it on Twitter, Rachel Walden at Women’s Health News sent me a link to a message alert she had and within fifteen minutes, Christian Grantham picked it up and was making phone calls about it. Lissa Kay also talked to us from East Tennessee about it on Twitter. Here is the story at WKRN.

Newspapers, this is the new world of communication and how news is evolving.

Ferris Bueller

In this new information age, you keep moving or you get run over and left in the dust.

I know.

Dang if I don’t know.

It makes my head hurt but I’m in.

Going to read about podcasting, SXSW and Pownce again.

Next time I come to Knoxville, you guys owe me a beer.

Wait, I owe you one.

I get confused, you know.