The first I saw of this was at Topix: It’s official: Local reporting is doomed
Associated Press article:
Calif. Web Site Outsources Reporting By Justin Pritchard
Local blog posts:
Peoria Pundits: It’s official: Local reporting is doomed
Foothill Cities: PasadenaNow Outsources Local News Coverage (includes the text of the Bangalore Craigslist ad)
Editors’ Corner: Local coverage from afar
LA Observed: Pasadena News Site Outsources to India
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When I first read this I felt almost breathless with shock. And it wasn’t necessarily a shock of delight. James Macpherson was at the bloggers’ picnic on Sunday. We were all locals being local together. We were building community. We were getting to know the people in our neighborhood. My initial split-second reaction to this news was fear. This seemed like the opposite of community building. What would it mean if people in India were reporting on our city news? What if it worked?!?
Now that I’m remembering that initial jolt, I’m trying to trace the lines of thought that the fear seemed to come from. Here’s what I think when I think fear:
- If it works, will our news sources feel even more monolithic and one-sided?
- Will local news become something that is dictated to us from halfway around the world by people who may not have enough information to decide what is important and relevant?
- Will local news become flatter, less meaningful and less human feeling?
- Will local reporters lose their jobs?
- Will it be even harder to write for a living here in Pasadena?
I didn’t feel that jolt of fear for long, though. A few seconds later, it was wonder that I was feeling. What an amazing idea! What if it works?!?
James Macpherson was not employing journalists at Pasadena Now previously from what I understand. It doesn’t sound like anyone is being laid off or replaced by journalists in India. These are new writers being hired. This is news coverage that adds to the coverage we have available now. If it works, it might make things harder for the Pasadena Weekly and the Pasadena Star News, but I’m okay with adding more news coverage and seeing what happens. It might make local journalism more competitive. It might be great. Wouldn’t it be neat to have more in depth coverage of Pasadena city council meetings? Outsider perspectives might shed new light. We might grow as a city.
I don’t think entirely replacing local reporters with people living halfway around the world is a good idea, but adding reporters living in another country to the mix (a mix that is predominantly local) might work very well.
I would love to learn more about these two new Pasadena Now writers. According to the AP article above, one of them studied at UC Berkeley. Neat. I want to know their names. I’d like to see their pictures. I’d like to interview them over the phone. I’d like to learn more about them as people. I’d like to know what they think about this idea! And I’d like to welcome them, person to person, to our online Pasadena community.
What if adding two Indian writers to our community could help our news sources could feel even more human, more warm, more thoughtful and more relevant? What if this adds depth and breadth to what is available now? I’m interested in seeing what happens.
What do you think?
So far, I’m having a cow. I may have to let it wander the streets of Pasadena…
…which means that only a local blogger will take note.
I think you are right. Covering meetings, especially late night meetings, is probably extremely expensive for newspapers. I know that I’ve attended dozens of Monrovia School Board meetings and never saw a Star-News reporter, presumably because the cost is too high. With good editing by someone familiar with the area here, I think having someone watch the City Council webcast and report on it is a great idea. It would undoubtedly be better to have someone with feet on the ground at the actual meeting, but it seems to me that its more a trade-off between not-quite-as-good and non-existant. With those options I’ll take not-quite-so-good any day of the week. And I should add as a matter of full disclosure, James is a friend of mine, just in case anyone would like to discount my thoughts.
Well, at least we’ll know that ONE person actually made it through an entire city council meeting (no mean feat).
Most of all, kudos to you Jill for being open-minded!
I heard this on NPR yesterday evening as we were driving home from Sac…and I thought of you! Your initial reaction is much closer to mine than your later open-mindedness.
NPR interviewed a tech professor from UCLA who said he regularly farms out copywriting/editing to India. He said he thought the Pasadena things would work if it was simply a matter of fleshing out facts (reporting on police blotter items, etc.)…but that it obviously wouldn’t work if it was news that required an in-depth understanding of the local area. I still don’t get it though–why outsource at all? With so many people looking for writing jobs of all sorts, wouldn’t SOMEONE local work for the pay involved? Or maybe I’m wrongly assuming those jobs are being outsourced strictly to save money. What concerns me is: are the writers going to present themselves (in print) as being local?
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hi jill,
i was wondering if you ever got to e-party with the indian Pasadena Now reporters. have you been able to get to know them, at least virtually? just curious how they’re working out at PN. i’ve been out of the loop. Thx.
Sir,
Sub: Application for the post of Reporter in Shimoga, Karnataka, India.
sinece 15 years I am in Journalism field and contributing news to reputed news agencies and national news papers in India. I am well versed in English, Hindi, Kannada and Marathi language.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
Dr.Balakrishna M.H.
Cell:9448181492
On the whole, I think it’s a horrible idea. Local journalism is probably the least amenable part of journalism to foreign outsourcing. Good, investigative journalism is a necessary compenent in healthy democracy. If its all outsourced gone are the meeting with sources, the in your face questioning at press ops etc. Plus, their are a number of severe technical limitations. What if the audio or sound cuts off? What if something important happens outside the view of the camera? Since this particular instance doesn’t destroy US jobs, I suppose it is better than nothing, but not by a lot.