A few people asked why we’re interested in news, feeling there’s an abundance of news sources already. Why another?
Good question with some good answers:
- Most people DON’T watch Fox or CNN type news, particularly under 60, opting for social media, word of mouth and other often ridiculously unreliable places…or nowhere. News radio and some print do a decent job but there are no visuals of course and they too skew old.
- Migrating existing news services to digital wont fix anything. A dated presentation wont suddenly be compelling simply because it’s online. Just like a lousy song doesn’t become good because it’s on a better sound system. Take a CNN. I’ll bet they migrate the same look and faces online and expect miracles. The actual programming needs to match the vision of the technology.
- The potential news audience is massive. Take cable and network news numbers under 60 and deduct from population. There’s A LOT of people who don’t associate with any news service because…
- …Because the current style of literally every video news service is the same. Dated. Tired. Lots of lipstick. Completely un-relatable to the New American Mainstream. Plain and simple – the production of even the most “modern” newscasts are simply out of sync with the era often to the point of parody. The style is driving potential viewers AWAY from news.
- Politics is important but a) It’s reached the “enough already” point as it’s choking out a ton of relevant stories. b) there are NEW ways to present politics. Evenly and interactively. And with a whole new “cinematic and data driven” style
- Interactivity! Plugging into the pulse of America. Information is a two way highway.
- Arrogance. I believe there’s a lot of arrogance at news organizations that holds back imagination and change not to mention layers of internal politics. Getting in sync with the era won’t happen from the big players, the first to chime “it’ll never work.”
- We are in the Information Age! It’s driving culture. Reliable information has never been more critical to the state of the world. It’s a new world requiring new ideas. It’s the new Wild West and that includes the presentation of… information
These are among the points of OPPORTUNITY. Presenting anything remotely resembling the current offerings will likely fail. It’s going to take radical Re imagination and execution to create an information renaissance.
I liken it to the way radio was. Circa 1972: AM radio dominated. Then came FM. Better sounding but it was the new formats on FM that made it happen. I liken the current state of news to be AM….Newsfix is FM. It’s a merging of tech and programming at a pivotal period on Americas timeline.
While the world is having a nervous breakdown, media can help deliver information on 2025 terms with accuracy, energy and imagination…to the 2025 audience…on 2025 terms.
Time to AFDI
