Editing in the "Post-Media" World

The Buzzmachine blog's Jeff Jarvis always has something intelligent to say. You hate to lavish praise on someone so unequivocally, but Jarvis is just so darn right all the time. In his latest insight, he explains further why newspapers and most other media should move away from the story an into the "wave" or "stream" of news and information. The information consumer will always be on and so the media must always be on, too. The page the audience turns to will be a collection of information, some constantly updated, and will serve as a base for collaboration, as much as anything. A static page of old news will be just as irrelevant and hard to access as a dusty old tome in library basement.

This does not diminish the need for strong editing; in fact, it creates an even greater need for curating the vast amount of information, some of it unfiltered, coming through the stream. Jarvis points to others (Clay Shirky, Marissa Mayer) that have been espousing the same idea. Editors need to help readers cut through the clutter. Bring clarity to the chaos. Establish priorities.

This does not mean radical change. Editors can move toward more "stream-like" content without having to blow up everything and start over:

• Integrate all your media. Add social media feeds wherever possible. Push RSS. Include Facebook comments and tweets in stories. Think about a hub-and-spoke model for your media. Everything, in some way, should be connected to form a very strong unit.
  
• Participate in conversations. Learn how to engage in dialogue in online communities. Post comments on blogs. Offer advice in forums. Let people seek you out for more information. How is this "editing"? This exercise will make you more familiar with how people seek and consumer information in these venues, which will give you greater insight into how to edit for this audience.
  
• Consider setting up a web page with constantly updated information on a specific topic. Let your audience come to a single site to get a glimpse of what is going on. Let them see what other peiople are talking about. Encourage their interaction. Educate them, but also let them talk.

Revolution can be good. But evolution can be easier to manage. Evolve your content.