About
The site
I do most of my blogging at Snarkmarket, but I didn’t want to clutter my awesome, focus-less blog with my long and frequent musings on the state of journalism. So I started writing Newsless.org.
I tend to think the online journalism revolution has barely even begun. And when the dust settles, there won’t just be a lot more multimedia, or reporters frantically posting updates every half-second. If we play this Web thing right, we could make journalism more engaging, more accurate, more useful, more inspiring, fairer, and most of all, better for democracy. The breakthrough moments will begin to pour forth once we realize that the “latest news” is only the thinnest layer on the story of what’s happening in our society.
The author
I love the Web. Having been a relatively early member of MetaFilter, and having made a number of great friends through Craigslist, I’m a giant believer in online communities. But my loves stretches much farther - I’m fascinated by Wikipedia, I geek out over advancements in data presentation and interface design, you’d have to pry my RSS reader from my cold, dead hands, &c.
By the way, I’m Matt Thompson, currently undertaking a year-long research fellowship with the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri. Since 2005, I’ve been the deputy Web editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Before that, I was the first online reporter/producer at the Fresno Bee, and a Naughton Fellow for Online Reporting and Writing at the Poynter Institute. I now sit on Poynter’s National Advisory Board. I graduated from Harvard in 2002 with an honors degree in English. I spent my years there singing in (and eventually leading) the Harvard Callbacks, a co-ed a cappella group. I’ve completed one marathon and hope to complete another.
Matt,
Thank you for dedicating so much time and energy to Newsless. This is a critical topic and your blog is the most thorough consideration of what we are facing, as journalists and photojournalists, that I have seen.
For the past year I have been trying to drive interest in these topics via a number of channels - my own blog, Lightstalkers.org, A Photo Editor (responses to posts), Black Star’s blog, and many comments on many web sites. I have spoken to other journalists, photojournalists, and book publishers who, almost without exception, all agree that driving viewers/readers to news that matters is becoming a growing challenge, and there is no clear answer to this problem. More of us are seeking corporate sponsorship for our projects, to pay for production and distribution of the stories that we think need to be told. But this is not a viable, long-term alternative.
Anyway, thanks again for your work - I look forward to tracking the discussion as it continues.
Regards
Mike
Mike Fox
11 Oct 08 at 1:00 pm
Matt -
Hi! Stumbled upon your web site after looking at several journalism-related web sites. Finally, someone else talking about what news organizations should be doing if they want to survive and regain the public’s respect - focusing more on context and analysis instead of headlines and who broke the story first.
Like so many before me, I will always have respect for journalism, but I had to leave the newspaper business. I am now studying to become a librarian, and for someone like me who loves research and analysis, it’s a perfect fit. I would highly recommends this field as a second career option for an out-of-work journalist.
You can read my recent life story at the web site provided.
Good luck with your project, Matt…i am pulling for you!
Tricia Powers
13 Oct 08 at 9:58 pm