The financial crisis,

networks and the future

of news
Rolf Rosenkranz
Editor. Devex
ICGFM conference. Miami. 5/19/09
The problem
• Downturn in global growth
• Decline in commodity prices
• Tightening of credit
Francis Fukuyama
Why?
• Asset prices rising unsustainably
• Debt resulting from prolonged
credit expansion
• Inability of regulators to keep up
with new financial instruments
The media
IFAD. EU Financial Crisis News.
Crisis Talk. IMF’s Public Financial
Management blog. Economist.
OECD Observer. Financial Times.
Inter Press Service. Devex.
Coverage
• USA: no credit for Dr. Doom
• South Korea: trial vs. “Minerva”
• Russia: “We do not have it”
• NL: “Withdraw cash from ATM
machines while you can”
Ignorance. Lack of access. News
grind.
Cause + effect
Ignorance. Desensitization.
Mistrust. Fear.
Pew: Bleak economic outlook
causes U.S. to…
Sept. Oct. Dec.
Cut back vacation 48 % 59 % 62 %
spending
Change savings 39 % 48 % 60 %
or investments

Adjust retirement 23 % 26 % 32 %
plans
 Pew: Understanding the
economic situation
Very Fairly Not
well well well
Total 24 % 49 % 27 %

Men 30 % 50 % 20 %

Women 19 % 48 % 33 %
Pew: What the U.S. public knows
Gov’t wants banks to… 83 %
(lend more money)
Who holds most U.S. debt 71 %
(China)
Timothy Geithner’s job 58 %
(Treasury sec.)
Current unemployment rate 53 %
(ca. 8 %)
 “Considering the wall-to-wall
media coverage of the financial
crisis, it is startling to see how
few Americans have a grasp on
the most basic economic
facts.”
-- James Bowers. managing director.
Ctr. for Economic & Entrepr’l Literacy
News coverage
milestones
• August: U.K., Japan and others
enter crisis mode
• October: Iceland financial crisis
• April: London G-20 summit
Media trends
Concentration. Privatization. Ad
wars. Less collective bargaining.
Pay decreases. Generation shift.
New media. Decreasing quality.
Information = news
Media = press
 Audience segment:
Traditionalists
• 46 % of the public
• Older, less educated, less affluent
• Heavy reliance on TV news
• Strong interest in weather
 Audience segment:
Integrators
• 23 % of the public
• Middle-aged, well-educ., affluent
• TV is main news source, but
regularly online
• Strong interest in (political) news
 Audience segment:
Net-newsers
• 13 % of the public
• Relatively young, well-educated,
affluent, male
• Read political blogs > watch
network news
• Strong interest in tech news
 2008 U.S. TV news coverage
• Pres. elections (ca. 3,700 mins)
• Economy (ca. 2,800 mins)
• International coverage (1,900
minutes)
-- Tyndall Report
 International coverage on U.S. TV
• Iraq: 244 minutes (88 from Iraq)
• Beijing Olympics: 236 minutes
• Afghanistan: 126 minutes
• Sichuan earthquake: 119 minutes
(94 from China)
-- Tyndall Report
Pew: Foreign news coverage
online
• 27 % of total news
• Key topics: Pakistan, Israel-
Palestinian Territories conflict,
Zimbabwe elections
• Press: 17 %
Foreign coverage
Overseas bureaus closing.
Reliance on wire services. More
freelancers. More competition.
Parachute journalism. Multimedia.
Time pressure. Global audience.
Journalism’s cardinal sins
• Publish easy-to-gather stories
• Select safe facts and ideas
• Provide “false balance”
• Give audiences what they want
-- Nick Davies, author, “Flat Earth News”
“News organizations will have
to do more than adapt to
changing technology; they will
have to solve their economic
problems in a manner that will
benefit their customers.”
-- Stuart Loory, editor, Global Journalist
 Winners?
Trade publications. Bloggers.
Software developers. Mobile
phone companies. Consultants.
Nonprofit media. GlobalPost.
Content sharing. Pay-per-view.
Custom-tailored news. Google.
ONA: Online journos optimistic
• 54 % say journalism heading
down wrong track
• 57 % say Internet is changing
journalism values
• 82 % are confident profitable
business model online will be
found
 News sought online
Weather. Science & health.
International. Technology.
Business & financial. Politics.
Sports. Entertainment. Local.
Social media
 Blogs
• South Korea
(92 % read, 72 % write)
• Philippines
(90 % read, 65 % write)
• France (78 % read, 31 % write)
• Canada (56 % read, 22 % write)
-- Universal McCann
Online communities
• Philippines (83 %)
• Brazil (75 %)
• China (64 %)
• United States (43 %)
-- Universal McCann
 Social media:
The business case
• Mass media
• Creative consumer
• Viral marketing
• Human touch
Credibility
 Networks
• Public Expenditure Management
Peer Assisted Learning Network
• Jordan Professional
Communities
• Devex
 200 major
donor agencies

1 million
100,000
developm
develop
ent
ment
professio
projects
nals
She needs a filter
We’re learning from…
 Network science
“the organized knowledge of
networks based on their study
using the scientific method”
-- National Research Council
Cesar Hidalgo
Worlds apart…

United States

Kenya
Rolf.Rosenkranz@Devex.com
One stop  Value-added  Wisdom of crowds