What’s Your View?
Posted by Warren Enos on 23 Aug 2007 | Tagged as: Future of Cal-MOAA
MUST SHARPEN WEBLOG FOCUS
This weblog has been used to present late news, information, opinion, viewpoints, and commentary.
But in the future, the focus must be on member views and opinions.
A number of new studies, both in the UK and US, indicate that younger people want views, not just news, in print.
In terms of Council member posts, however, the number of members contributing CAL-MOAA weblog viewpoint and/or opinion items can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
If we’re going to be successful appealing to the new generation of officers–the active duty, drilling Guard and Reserve, and age range 43-55 officers–and effectively complete the transition from TROA to MOAA, we will need to present our views on the issues.
If we want to attract more readers to this weblog, members must be willing to write and post their views and opinions. That’s what younger people want to read about.
Tim Rutten, a reporter who writes about the media, says that British newspapers are far ahead of American papers, moving to what looks like the future of newspaper journalism, one that places a much higher premium on analysis and opinion.
See full San Jose Mercury story here: http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_6663241?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com&nclick_check=1
It seems that the British broadsheets have transformed themselves from newspapers to viewspapers, and because that’s what readers want.
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press determined that a quarter of the American people use the Internet as their primary news source. The Web crowd is younger and better educated than most Americans and far more dissatisfied with their country’s news media–they are attracted to viewspapers.
They are hungry for more analysis and interpretation, perspectives and commentary.
This weblog has been including general news stories about the military community, but to be successful going into the future most items need to be member-written views, opinions, and commentary.
It’s time for members to start sharing their views on the issues and the weblog is a perfect platform for expression. Instructions are posted to the weblog page. Or send views and opinions to warren@cal-moaa.org and they will be posted without delay.
One Response to “What’s Your View?”
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Warren,
What a great situation diagnosis you’ve hit upon.
The prevailing attitude of our older members of society with regard to computers and it’s merits definitely is have at it for everyone else but them. Yet they marvel and are so proud of what their grand children can do and achieve with this technology.
To me something in this arena doesn’t ring true.
We of the generation I’m speaking of and for, seemed to have lost, tossed overboard or relinquished their leadership functioning. Why on entering into the senior phase of life one would depart from such a previous roll just because of this new communication medium just doesn’t make sense.
True it is a new challenge but one doesn’t have to master it. Just participating even on the fringe is in reality a lot of enjoyment.
Unfortunately, too many of our compatriots have accepted the concept that they don’t feel the need to become even minimally involved.
In the various organizations to which I belong I am noting an increasing number are joining in for the convenience of email, which is encouraging.
Our members writing their views, opinions, and commentary could easily add been there, done that and even I know about this. What a cherished position to be in.