Process journalism, the evolution of knowledge, and the top 10 publishing mistakes at the Yale Publishing Course

"The best part of it is I feel as if I'm not alone," a course participant told me over lunch. "It's a feeling of togetherness from all over the world!" Another chimed in, "I feel as if other course participants are asking the same questions as I am."

Still in the first day of the Yale Publishing Course, there is so much going on it's hard to keep track of everything. And the issues are getting bigger--to life and death and politics. In an afternoon session with Kevin McKean of Consumers Union, the topic of process journalism versus traditional journalism came up. Process journalism is the idea that in an interconnected, instantaneous media world, information is self-correcting over time--if you make a mistake you get caught out almost instantly. The truth, therefore, is written by the collective coverage taken as a whole. Relatively few bloggers are doing the fact-checking of journalism--speed is essential, so we just hit the wire with it. This Darwinian view of journalism does have some merit--but what, asks one course participant, if you are tracking, for example, the safety of a medicine or drug? Where is the fact checking, where are the archives?

This led to a lively discussion of what must change depending on what is at stake, and the role of an independent media. The imperatives are certainly different with online reporting; while a traditional journalist takes pride choosing quality journalism, the quantity of posting matters online--anything below 30 posts a day is a non-starter in today's web. Pace matters too; McKean pointed out that its online property, the Consumerist, posts throughout the day--one every 15 minutes. The regularity of posting has created a more regular audience, with Monday at 10-11 am the sweet spot for site traffic.

These sobering but essential truths made up a portion of the day's exchange. But it isn't only quantity and pace that differs from print to online. People, McKean has found, do not seek the same content on line as in print. A story in print about infection rates in hospitals can become a story online about local hospitals and their services. A smart publisher will suit the content to the channel.

"With the internet, magazine and book publishing are converging," a course participant remarked. "It means everything I hear is relevant--but that makes it difficult to know which sessions to attend. They all are so important!"

While McKean was going in depth into magazine and digital publications, Robert Baensch of Baensch International Group Ltd was discussing the book business in depth, using a look at the numbers to illuminate larger issues of trends and strategies. Looking at the numbers in context, Baensch explained, will illuminate the difference between real change and perceived change. An understanding of the numbers and what they mean in terms of profitability and ROI will provide a conceptual fluency that will enable publishers to better manage their businesses.

Digital publishing is growing--but it still comprises a small percentage of the whole. To understand the necessity of moving into ebook and digital publishing, however, it is only necessary to understand the consumer market; in 2009 74.1% of American's are using the internet. And to understand the possibilities of digital publishing, we can take a look at the travel category, where a purchase of a travel book brings with it a six month passcode to the site--which can be accessed by the traveler from any city in the world. The Japanese have taken this a step further--and shown us where we are likely to soon be--by including with their books a barcode that can be used with the user's cellphone to access local businesses; for example, to dial in to local restaurants for reservations.

Charles Melcher of Melcher Media picked up the discussion with the evolution of learning from an oral culture to a written one. Socrates, he pointed out, the great mind of his day, was antagonistic to the written word, seeing it as a harbinger of a more superficial way of thinking and learning. Similarly, many people today see the internet as antithetical to deep reading and deep thinking. Instead, Melchor believes it promises a renaissance of thinking, ideas and storytelling.

Glamour's EIC, Cynthia Leive, had examples of how Glamour.com has made that a reality with its site re-design (away from a static, cover-type look and towards a more blog-driven, search friendly look) and its daily blogging. A rising tide lifts all boats, said Leive, and newsstand is up with site visits and reader comments. The site enables them to learn about the readers and bond with them.

Martin Levin wound up the day with his ten greatest mistakes in publishing. Amid the laughs some great lessons, and of them the best: always have a backup plan.