The Oklahoman: Content Aggregator

[zookeeper]

Has anyone noticed the big changes at The Oklahoman? They are now linking all over the internet to news stories from all kinds of sources, with far less original reporting.

Example: Tonight the OKC Public Schools voted in a new uniform policy for the district.
See: OKC public schools adopts district-wide uniform policy | News OK There's just a mention of what happened and then a link that says "See the rest of this post on the original site" It goes straight to the KOCO website. The Oklahoman doesn't do a story, they simply link to Channel 5's story! That's called content aggregation. I thought it was probably something they would use sparingly when I first saw this a few weeks ago. But it is becoming more widespread and they are linking to articles locally, in the state, all over the country, to stories that they have not done any original reporting on.

I've even noticed the irony of the popular Trending Topics not being content from the Oklahoman at all. A big sports story a couple of weeks ago was the top Trending and it was a link to Sports Illustrated or ESPN, I can't remember which one.

Times are changing, but for a large metropolitan daily to transition their online site to just another content aggregator is sad.

[Tritone]

I have noticed that. Also, the local television stations' newscasts are eager to direct you to their "sites." That tempts me to email them and tell them their web sites are so useful that I really don't need to watch them on television any more. Their advertising departments would love to hear that, wouldn't they?

[Snowman]

Has anyone noticed the big changes at The Oklahoman? They are now linking all over the internet to news stories from all kinds of sources, with far less original reporting.

Example: Tonight the OKC Public Schools voted in a new uniform policy for the district.
See: OKC public schools adopts district-wide uniform policy | News OK There's just a mention of what happened and then a link that says "See the rest of this post on the original site" It goes straight to the KOCO website. The Oklahoman doesn't do a story, they simply link to Channel 5's story! That's called content aggregation. I thought it was probably something they would use sparingly when I first saw this a few weeks ago. But it is becoming more widespread and they are linking to articles locally, in the state, all over the country, to stories that they have not done any original reporting on.

I've even noticed the irony of the popular Trending Topics not being content from the Oklahoman at all. A big sports story a couple of weeks ago was the top Trending and it was a link to Sports Illustrated or ESPN, I can't remember which one.

Times are changing, but for a large metropolitan daily to transition their online site to just another content aggregator is sad.

I think you may be overestimating how much original reporting was being done, for years much of the paper's content was either direct or modified from the AP wire, a press releases or some other prepared source. I think papers admitting the days of pretending they are the sole source of all news for a community are gone can be a good thing, trying to keep that up has been failing more and more over the last decade. I hope they find a new model that works and continues what original reporting they did but the old model has been broken for some time.

[RadicalModerate]

I think this is a very interesting topic. I imagine that the Candlemaker's Union, the Carriage Wheelwrights Guild, and before them, the Order of Scribes and Parchment Makers had similiar observations regarding living in a Communication/Transportation Transition Zone. Back when I used to subscribe to the local newspaper, I often marvelled at the waste of tree by-products piling up all over my apartment and the thought crossed my mind that the Daily Newspaper was perhaps the biggest waste of forests, etc. ever. And that was back in the mid to late '70s and early '80s.

HOWEVER: Even today, I look forward to Wednesdays when I can grasp a copy of the Gazette . . . and without symbols on paper, what happens if the electrical grid finally fails? (that was an indirect tip o' the hat to Steve L. and the rest of the print media crew.)

I still regret that, while they were still available, I couldn't afford a set of The Encyclopaedia Brittanica. Not even the cheap version. (radicalmoderate=closet bikernerd =)

If it is "in print" on paper it is more difficult to lose forever.

[OKCTalker]

In my printed edition of the Daily Oklahoman this morning was the first two paragraphs from a story on the budget impasse. At the end it said, "For the rest of the story, please purchase a copy of today's New York Times."

[sacolton]

In my printed edition of the Daily Oklahoman this morning was the first two paragraphs from a story on the budget impasse. At the end it said, "For the rest of the story, please purchase a copy of today's New York Times."

I really hope that was a joke.