The too-much-information age

Fascinating article in the November/December issue of Columbia Journalism Review, about the news media and information overload. The gist is: The news media has spent a disproportionate amount of money, time and resources on "increasing the volume and frequency of production -- sometimes frantically and mindlessly." And that it's only made things more difficult for consumers already overloaded with constant updates and breaking news.

"The best journalism does not merely report and deliver information, it places it in full and proper context," writes author Bree Nordenson. She concludes the long piece:

Ironically, if out of desperation for advertising dollars, news organizations continue to chase eyeballs with snippets and sound bites, they will ultimately lose the war for consumer attention. Readers and viewers will go elsewhere, and so will advertisers. But if news organizations decide to rethink their role and give consumers the context and coherence they want and need in an age of overload, they may just achieve the financial stability they’ve been scrambling for, even as they recapture their public-service mission before it slips away.