Completely Conspicuous 166: The Future is Unwritten

Check out part 2 of my podcast conversation with special guest Eric Convey as we discuss the current state of journalism. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



The show notes...

Topics:

- Eric's Managing Editor of the Boston Business Journal

- Nobody knows where journalism is going

- Rupert Murdock may have the answer with The Daily, designed for the iPad

- Local news could survive through iPad, smartphone apps

- Local news is the only niche left

- AOL bought Huffington Post for big bucks

- Eric: AOL's Politics Daily is most interesting news site

- AOL's Patch doesn't need local advertisers, it needs clicks

- Eric's food adventures at the Peabody International Festival

- Eric: BBJ uses print and web to thrive

- Worked at Boston Herald for 11 years

- Tales of covering overnight accidents

- Eric: Print papers aren't economically sustainable long-term

- Papers are moving towards charging for online access

- When Boston Globe starts charging, the Herald will follow

- When you're forced for everything, where will traffic go?

- From the start, Wall Street Journal was saying papers should charge

- Nobody really understood online commerce in the '90s

- Jay: Used to buy Globe and Herald every day; now just read them online for free

- Similar parallel to music industry

- Music sales are an all-time low

- Eric: Print is still in the picture at BBJ

- Eric teaches a college journalism class

- Helps students think like journalists

- Some are still looking for newspaper jobs

- Students all have laptops or iPads now

- The future is scary

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

Art Brut - Unprofessional Wrestling

Black Francis - Bad News

Robert Pollard - Touch Me in the Right Place at the Right Time

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The show is sponsored by Budget, the country's premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to Budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.

The Art Brut song is a B-side from the forthcoming album Brilliant! Tragic! on Cooking Vinyl Records. Download the song for free (in exchange for your e-mail address) at PledgeMusic (via Stereogum).

The Black Francis song is on the album The Golem on The Bureau Records. Download the song for free courtesy of IODA Promonet:

Black Francis
"Bad News" (mp3)
from "The Golem"
(The Bureau)

More On This Album



The Robert Pollard song is from the album Space City Kicks on Guided by Voices Records. Download the song for free at Spinner.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at his blog. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.