When I was a newspaper reporter, my peers and I referred to ourselves as “Inked-Stained Wretches.” It was our way of celebrating the broadsheet. The printed product that we all wrote for. From an early age, I wanted to be a newspaperman. I was the editor-in-chief of my high school newspaper; news editor and [...]
Read moreSocial Media Myth Busting: Engagement
First, I’d like to come clean. Guilty as charged! I speak the word “engagement” ad nauseam. It’s one of those words I’m required to use as a social media consultant (Rule #34 in the Social Media Bible we all get from Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook). I’m talking about big “E” engagement – the idea of [...]
Read moreNews Moves Faster Than We Do
Even The Flash has trouble keeping up the news. You can’t keep up with the news anymore. But don’t be alarmed because nobody else can either. Once upon a time news got delivered on your doorstep in a static format. It was there for you to read – at your leisure – within the next [...]
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Traditional Media Becoming Obsolete, Not the Media Itself
Here are the facts: Newspapers circulation numbers are falling like a rock. The New York Times daily circulation in 1990 was 1.1 million and is now less than 900,000. The Los Angeles Times circulation dropped from 1.25 million in 1990 to less than 600,000 The big three TV networks accounted for more than 45% of [...]
Read moreThink of the Send Button as a Privacy Vaporizer
Kind of like a ray gun. Because when you press send your privacy is gone. You have officially gone public. This includes the send button for email, instant messaging, text messaging, Twitter DMs, Facebook messages, voicemail and anything posted to a social network or an online forum. This week I was interviewed for a Boston [...]
Read moreNewspapers Spin the Bad Circulation News
How bad is business in the newspaper business? The Audit Bureau of Circulation released a report this week that newspaper circulation had dropped 5 percent in the last six months. However, the bureau noted that the bleeding was less severe than in the previous six months. This was greeted by the nation’s daily newspapers as [...]
Read moreWhy I Canceled My Newspaper Subsciption
I made the break a month ago. After more than 25 years of having the Boston Globe delivered to my door (there have been many doors), I canceled my subscription on July 31. Let me be clear. I no longer buy the print edition, but I still read the Globe daily: Online and on my [...]
Read moreHating the Internet is Easy
Alex Beam hates the Internet. The crusty (generally ill-tempered) Boston Globe columnist writes: “Come on. Admit it. You hate the Internet a little, too. Ten years ago, you could get away with saying that the Himalayan peak K-2 was “about 29,000 feet high.’’ Now, that obnoxious guy — you know who I mean — whips [...]
Read moreStatus Updates Mean No More Alone Time
There was a fascinating op-ed in the Boston Globe last week about how college students isolate themselves by hiding behind their mobile devices and social networks. The author, Charlotte Steinway, a senior at a local college, wrote: “But the tragic, isolating thing is that we reach for our devices because we don’t want to seem [...]
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October 21, 2011


HighTalk Readers Engage: