Breakdown, Blogging and Breakfast-Traditions

I wrote this piece for some other class on international media systems, but I thought it might fit here to, so have fun with it!

BREAKDOWN, BLOGGING AND BREAKFAST - TRADITIONS
WHY GERMAN PRINT MEDIA IS IN A CRISIS, BUT DOESN’T HAVE TO FEAR THE BLOGOSPHERE
‘Crisis’ seems to be one of the most popular words in the latest years. Sometimes it seems as if every sector of society is approaching a crisis or allready right in the middle of one. There seem to be different types of crises. For example we have the economic crisis which appeared as a shock in 2008. Suddenly the market crashed and nobody seemed to be prepared for that. To some people who aren’t into economics that much and didn’t see the breakdown coming, it was comparable to a Tsunami or other natural disasters. One day you go to the beach of Jaffna, the next day there is no beach anymore. One day the world economy is fine, the next day banks are out of money, companies stop their production and some people lose not only their jobs, but everything they have in life.

It’s different with the so-called ‘Media Crisis’. This one isn’t shocking, but creeping. At the latest since the development of Web 2.0 it is clear that the media landscape worldwide is about to change. This challenge between ‘new’ and ‘old’ media has turned into a crisis. Also in Germany.

In the last few years newspapers have experienced several difficulties. The Internet became more important in the potential readers’ all-day life. Especially the young audience lost interest in old media and concentrated more on new tools. Since the beginning of the new century, newspapers in Germany have a vastly decreasing coverage. In addition, or better: as a result of that, the World Wide Web became more and more interesting for advertisement. Print media lost a huge part of their financial power.

What are the consequences? As we know, one of the first steps of a company that has financial problems is to dismiss some employees. Media companies are in no way different. The German Federation of Journalists discovered that every seventh journalist in Germany was unemployed at the end of 2002. In 2009 the WAZ Media Group, the second strongest media group in Germany, published its concept against the crisis. One of the main intentions of the company is the reduction of 300 of its 891 workplaces. Many editorial offices have to cover a lack of staff and others even close down. What automatically suffers from that is the journalistic quality of the newspapers. That annoys the readership and brings us back to the decrease of newspaper coverage. It’s like a vicious circle.

Next to the economic struggles print media have to face other challenges. Again the main competitor seems to be the Internet. People are using the Internet extensively in their everyday life. The Web has become an important factor also in worklife. A survey published on FAZ Online shows that German business men spend at least two hours in the Internet every day. In opposition to that the time spent on reading the newspaper decreases. The good old tradition of sitting at the breakfast table and exchanging the different parts of the paper with your family is fading. Nowadays we simply don’t have time for that. We rush through the news in order to not lose track and have something to (small-) talk about. So we are happy to have the Internet which offers us the main issues in short. Of Course there are many online offers from the ‘old media’ companies. Every big newspaper in Gremany has its own platform in the Internet. But as Hubert Burda, one of the most important publisher in Germany, points out: The media companies very often do not profit from them. Sometimes the costs for the web presence are even higher than its benefit. The only ones that profit from the new webpages, claims Burda, are search engines like Google or Yahoo.

But the Internet has more to give than only newspages. One phenomenon that has gained more and more importance over the last few years are blogs. Especially in the US the blogosphere is vast. Blogs shape the media landscape. During the run for US President in 2008 and also in everyday politics blogs play a significant role. For example Larry Summers, the economical advisor of Barack Obama, reads blogs regularly. American bloggers have the chance to get really famous. Some of them even live from their blogs (again because of advertisement). And also ‘old media’ have discovered this field for themselves. Many newspapers or TV channels run their own blog-columns. A lot of journalists have entered the blogosphere. The phenomenon of blogs is largely discussed in America: Can blogging allready be seen as a new form of journalism? Should readers rely on blogs rather than on traditional media? Do bloggers make news?

In Germany we have to ask a different question, first: Where are the bloggers? As the Digital Life Report showed, in 2006 around 45 % of German internet users didn’t even know what a blog is. Not to mention the little number of those who followed a blog or even wrote one on their own. Of 115 million blogs world wide in 2008 only 1 % were German (and remember that ‘German’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘from Germany’). Germany simply is no blogger-nation one might say, but the question is: Why?
Several bloggers tried to find an aswer to this and a discussion about blogging or not blogging in Germany broke out. Don Dahlmann for example collected seven points that in his opinion explain why blogging in Germany doesn’t work (yet). One of his main arguments was that blogs aren’t respected in Germany. ‘Serious’ Media (and by that he means ‘old media’) does not show enough interest in blogs and therefore they aren’t noted by the audience, too. Felix Disselhoff, another blogger, published an answer to Dahlmann and said his point was right: “Nobody talks about it”, he writes and claims this to be the main reason for the lack of popularity of blogs.

Felix Salomon, also a German blogger, published his ten reasons why blogs don’t work in Germany in the magazine of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, one of the most respected newspapers in Germany. His reasons are mainly cultural. Blogging just doesn’t seem to fit the Germans. He says that Germans in general highly emphasize reputation. Especially media is supposed to have a high reputation. The role of the media as a watchdog of politics is very important to Germans. That might have its reasons in the political history of the country. As a consequence German readership demands high quality and political independence. If someone reads the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung or the Süddeutsche Zeitung or Die Zeit, he or she does that because of these papers’ esteem. He knows that he can trust in what is published there.

So, Germans are a very demanding and also very suspicious readership. They don’t trust easily. Hence, they won’t trust any blogger who comes along and writes whatever he or she wants. As Heribert Prantl puts it: Newspapers in Germany are and will always be relevant for the system of democracy. They do not have to fear blogs. He argues that we tend to think the state of play in America is the same in Germany. That is not true. Yes, the German media, especially the print media is in a crisis just as other media around the world. But German press has its very own crisis. It cannot be compared to the one in America. The challenges in Germany are mostly economic. Media companies have to face a lot of financial struggles, because of new media. But they still have their reputation. I hope that this reputation lasts and helps them out of the crisis. The good old tradition of reading the newspaper at the breakfast table may suffer from our constant lack of time during work days, but don’t forget about the week ends. Go and have breakfast! Enjoy reading newspapers. They need our support.


Isn't it funny that I post this one on my Blog ;)

MoZ: Tweet tweet!

My latest Moment of Zen was only a little tweet.

I got to move it, move it!

Last week we had to do a test for our class. It was not one of the tests you expect from a course at university which gets graded and stuff, but it was more of a personal one. The question was "What Kind of Tech User are you?"

Our teacher's idea was that we should do the test twice: One time we had to answer the questions regularly and the second time she wanted us to think back to the time before our seminar and answer the questions from that perspective. To be honest: I didn't plan to do so. I said to myself: Well, do that test, see what kind of tech user you are (ähm... ME - A TECH USER?!?!) and that's it. It won't make any difference if you do it twice.

My first result was that I'm a "Media Mover". Yeah, I thought, that sounds good. I really had no idea what it meant and the description given by the program didn't help a lot, but at least I thought it sounded great. "Ellie the Media Mover". I'm Moooooving. Moooooving in Media Space. Woooow! I like the image of me moving, because actually what makes me a Media Mover is the fact that I sit in front of my computer a lot. I move in the internet. That has nothing to do with sports or health, but it made me feel better. At least I get around a lot - virtually.

If I had followed my actual plan to do the test only once that would have been it. I would have lived happily ever after with the image of me being a Media Mover. But while I had answered the questions it occured to me that there were some, I actually would have answered differently a little time ago. So, I did the test a second time and now, hold tight! I only became a Media Mover in the last few months!! Before that I was an "Ambivalent Networker"! I have to admit: I didn't get the meaning of that term either. And in addition to that I didn't think it sounded as cool as "Media Mover". So, the idea that I probably was an Ambivalent Networker some time ago didn't bother me that much. What interested me was the fact, that my behaviour actually changed in the last weeks. That the way I use technology changed. That I myself somewhat changed.

I tried to figure out in which ways my technical attitude has changed and I found some. One thing for example is my new mobile. (I told you about it in Think Pink!) The reason why it changed my attitude is simple: It has more tools than the one I had before. You know, for example it has a 5 mp camera included. One of my friends even screamed: "Your camera is ringing!", when my mom called me. The fact that I now have a camera with me every day makes me use it very (very, very) often. Ok, maybe even too often... But that's not the point. The point is, that my new mobile did its part to change the kind of tech user I am.
A second thing that occured to me might seem obvious to you: I have a blog now! And thinking about that, I realised that my whole online attitude changed in the last few months! I do not only blog on my own, but I also read a lot of other blogs what I never used to do. I also comment on a few of them regularly. I also have a new profile on Facebook and even tried Twitter (but that still swamps me). And I discovered YouTube! Actually, I think I am a little addicted... A few months ago, I almost never visited YouTube, because I just didn't know what I should watch there. It felt like a waste of time to me. Now, every time I get bored I watch some videos. Ok that's still wasting time, but when I wanted to distract me before I watched TV. I didn't go online. So, that's another thing: Nowadays, I only watch TV (waaaait for it:) once in a blue moon. Wow, what a cool term ;)

When I realised all this, I felt as if I'm one of the murderers of "Old Media". So, I promised to myself to never stop reading newspapers. Technology entertains me, but I like to get my information the old-school way. I somewhat feel that I have to find the line between New and Old Media. That's what keeps the Media Mover in motion...

By the way: Although my technical attitude changed in the last few months, I don't think that has a lot to do with our new media course. I rather think it's due to the fact that I go to university now and nearly everything is managed online here. And my YouTube addiction is absolutely Anna Bananas fault!!! :-*

MoZ: Social Icecream

In one of our last sessions we discussed about social networks. What is a social network? Who is part of a social network or can anyone NOT be part of a social network? What influence do networks have on our life?

Somehow the discussion always led us to one special network: The internet. We talked about internet "friends" and contacts, whether they are real friends and influence our lifes. We talked about how helpful the internet is when it comes to staying in contact and whether writing a letter is still seen as "better" than writing an email. In my eyes, the internet is one of the most important social networks. It makes communication easier and communication is what networks are about, right?! It's being connected and we can only be connected via communication.

What made me think, was the term "social". What makes a relationship social? Ain't any contact to another person social in a way? And then I read another term, that irritated me even more: Social Media. Internet is claimed to be "social" media, but why is that so? What makes internet social in contrast to other media like TV and radio? I found this great clip, that helped me to understand the phenomenom better..

My first step into Citizenship

Last Sunday (July 7th) was a very important day for me. I can probably even say it was some kind of a birthday: My citizenship-birthday! (Don't laugh! I even celebrate my drivers-license-birthday...) Although I'm allready 20 years old, and supposed to be a "full citizen" since my 18th, this was the first time I really had to ACT as a citizen. I had to vote. Or better: I was allowed to vote. I had to wait two years to finally get my political voice, but this year I do not only get to test it with a little whisper. I allready have to scream! Because this year I will vote three times. In Germany we even talk of 2009 as the "Super- Election- Year". (Btw I find this very American, but that would be another post...)

The first election 2009 was on Sunday: The European vote. I made my cross for the European Parliament. To me it was absolutely clear that I would go and vote. Not only because it was my first time and I couldn't wait for it (yes, I really found it exciting! Everything was so... top secret) and not because I study politics and all my teachers told me to go, but also because I see it as natural to use my RIGHT to vote. Therefore I was really shocked, when I saw the rates of participation in the election: The EU average lay by only 43.01% turnout. That's a negative record! Germany is only little higher than the average (43.3%), in the United Kingdom even less people participated (only 34.27%). (For more information on the results of the election 2009 I can recommend this website to you)

I asked myself: Can we really call this democracy when only a minority of citizens takes the chance to participate in political developments?! How can we actually live democracy, if we have to force people to take part in it? (See Belgium: There they had a turnout of 90.39% - because they have compulsory voting. Belgians are actually punished when they don't vote!)
The problem of the EU and especially the European Parliament is its image. Most of the people living in Europe don't even know, what the European Parliament does. There is this myth that its only task is to set useless regulations like a guideline for the curve of a banana (which is only partly true). Also "Europe" itself is something very difficult to grab. There is nothing like a European identity. E.g. in contrast to the United States, Europe is very diverse. We don't see ourselfs as Europeans, but we are German, Italian, French, Polish, Danish, Spanish etc. The German-Turkish educationist Sanem Kleff who is the head of the europeanwide project "School without racism" claims that Europe lacks something like a "corporate identity". Many people cannot or do not want to identify with Europe. Hence they don't see the point in voting a European Parliament. It's not easy to see what the EU is doing for me since it is nothing like my country. People tend to believe that the EU does lots of things for the others (for example its new members in the east), but not for us. Almost nobody gets that there should be no others. That Europe is us.

Only few people see the importance of an institution like the EU or even its sense. Therefore they don't feel responsible towards it. But in my eyes, voting is always important. It's not only a right, but also a duty for all citizens - no matter if we talk about German or European.

MoZ: Faster! Higher! Broader! Jülich!

People, you won't believe it, but there is a new attraction in Jülich!! (Who knows it? Right, it's the city of Peter Grünberg! Don't know him either? Well, have a look)

Today I heard that Jülich, or - as I now call it- "The City of genius", has unveiled - hold tight! - JUGENE, the supercomputer!! "Wow", I thought with the toothbrush in my mouth: "So what?!" But then they gave some facts about the "fastest computer in Europe" and it accured to me what this thing is able to do. It was said that JUGENE can finish a complex arithmetic (that had to do with astrology, but I didn't really get it) in ONE DAY. A usual computer (and by that I don't mean my lovely laptop, but one that's used for science) would need about TEN YEARS for that!! "That's fast", I now thought: "Michael Schuhmacher is so going to lose against this computer!"

The supercomputer impressed me and I started some research. I wondered how such a machine looks like and found this photo. Okay, I admit that JUGENE is not really practical, but who cares as long as it's fast, right?!

Thinking this made me suddenly fall into a total Zenny mood. Is that really what this is all about? Does it always have to be faster, higher, broader? Will there ever be the state of fastest, highest, broadest - the point where we cannot get better? Will technology ever rest? Probably not. Probably the whole sense in technology is its development - always getting better.
That makes me feel really sorry for JUGENE, Jülich and Jürgen (Rüttgers) who's so proud of the supercomputer: Today they are stars, but in a few years, they allready be old and slow. Then we are maybe going to say: "There's this new super-duper-computer and he's doing complex arithmetic in about one minute. JUGENE would have needed a whole day for that one..."

MoZ: Think pink!

I can't believe what I just did! I bought a new mobile!! AND IT'S PINK!! I'm a bit shocked about myself, but on the other hand I can't wait till I finally get it. It's not only a phone - I mean which phone is only that, nowadays?? It is more of a camera with which you can call friends! If that's necessary? Well, I guess not, but technology is developping so damn fast, that I feel I have to hold the track somehow. So I just bought it. A communicating camera.
But I promise it won't ruin the evenings with my friends, like the new iPhone of a friend does. Do you know this effect? Suddenly he's not able to communicate properly anymore, because there is allways a new "ap" he has to show us. Ain't that funny? A PHONE that destroys communication. Kind of ironic.
Mine won't do that. BECAUSE IT'S PINK!! :-)