APEXers are asking five questions about the year it’s been and what individuals are looking forward to in 2016.
Today’s post is from Daniel MacEachern, a municipal affairs reporter with the St. John’s Telegram in Newfoundland.
“I’m surprised to see online news sources starting to eliminate anonymous comments sections. Not that I think it’s a bad thing — I think it’s a positive move.”
Daniel MacEachern
- What is the biggest surprise/change you’ve seen in your industry in the past year?
“I’m surprised to see online news sources starting to eliminate anonymous comments sections. Not that I think it’s a bad thing — I think it’s a positive move. But anonymous online news comments sections have been around almost since news outlets started hosting web pages, so it was starting to feel like no one was going to do anything to improve/eliminate them.”
- Who is a true disrupter or game changer in your opinion?
“Live-streaming apps like Periscope are great for news organizations — especially for print media. I’m able to, if needed, provide a live video for people using nothing but my phone.”
- What app or technology do you rely on most day-to-day?
“Twitter. It’s an easy, quick way for me to see what people are talking about.”
- What don’t you want to see carried over in 2016?
“Clickbait headlines — “You’ll never guess what happened next!” — need to go away.”
- What are you most excited about for 2016?
“I’m excited to see the news industry continue to figure out the challenges of delivering news in non-traditional formats, especially as people increasingly look online for it. There’s been a lot of bad news on the revenue side for years, but I do think people will figure out that since news isn’t free to produce, getting it for free isn’t sustainable long-term.”
These five questions were compiled by Merissa King, account manager at APEX PR. Follow her on Twitter.