SMBSA Recap: The Media in Transition

LtoR: Jennifer Navarrete, Joe Ruiz, Donna Tuttle, Jennifer Milikien, Elaine Wolff, Bryan Person, Penny Muckleroy, Laura Lorek

In February, Social Media Breakfast San Antonio’s topic was, “The Media in Transition”. We had representatives from the San Antonio Business Journal, San Antonio Express-News, San Antonio Current and KSAT 12 News. Donna Tuttle, Laura Lorek, Elaine Wolff and Joe Ruiz shared how Social Media has changed not only how they gather news, but also how it has impacted their industry.

We captured the conversation on the Social Media Breakfast San Antonio Ustream channel.

The conversation began with stats for the respective publications and broadcasts. It quickly transitioned to how Social Media is changing journalism. There was a lot of energy and excitement around the increased accessibility of news sources and breaking news. At the same time there was the fear factor and monetization discussion. Given the online push, there is a disconnect between ad dollars in print distribution vs. ad dollars in web distribution. How journalists, newspapers and television broadcast news are making the transition along with the real discussion of how to continue to generate revenue.

It would be fair to say that the overall consensus was that journalism as we know it has changed. While it is an exciting time to be part of the “traditional media”, there is a huge shift in how the industry will continue. The distance between news happening in the world and the time it takes to report the news shrinks. The news media are not the only ones being affected by this transition. Education, big business, government and the non-profit sector are all dealing with the fast pace of the internet coupled with the slowing of the economy. These are topics we will be addressing at future Social Media Breakfast San Antonio events.

SMBSA photo courtesy of Joe Ruiz , Live streaming video by Leslie Baldwin aka Springanew,  A special thanks to Social Media Breakfast San Antonio intern Penny Muckleroy for facilitating this month’s event.