Let's try a thought experiment and imagine that a news organization didn't print a paper or publish to a website or a TV broadcast or anything like that. Let's imagine a world where all they had was a store — a physical store that people would show up at, looking to shop.
Someone walks in the front door, a little bell jingles alerting the staff to the presence of a prospective customer, and ...
SHOPPER: Well, my neighbor said I should come you all. I've been a little confused about all the parking law changes downtown. I'm ticked off because not only did I get a ticket yesterday, but I think it's affecting the foot traffic at my business.
EDITOR & SALES FLOOR MANAGER: Oh, yeah, we've heard a lot of people complaining and asking questions about the new parking issue. I've got just the thing for you. Step over here and take a look at this article. This here is brand new — just written last night — and it's got a nice bullet list of all the changes the city made.
Put yourself in the hypothetical shoes of our make-believe shopper. Are you in the market for an article? Maybe. If that article tells you how to fight a ticket, perhaps. Or one that tells you how to communicate your concerns to the municipal departments responsible for parking policy and how to get involved with its process.
No matter what sort of news organization we are, whatever medium and format, yes, we have to create media and distribute it across certain channels to reach people. My argument, however, is that the media and means by which we deliver it, while that is a product, it is not the product. Certainly not the one that means the most to our shopper.
If you ask me, journalism is not fundamentally a product to be manufactured and distributed. It is a service relationship embedded within a community. As I continue thinking out loud in this space, I'm going to explore more thoroughly what it means to design community organizations that deliver journalism as a service.
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