Ben Haber, an executive at the public relations firm Racepoint Group, blogs 
that the new Apple iPhone 3G S is bad news for television news stations because everyone now will be acting as citizen journalists.
My reaction: Baloney.
Haber’s views
I want to provide the full effect of Haber’s comments, so here is a large excerpt from his blog post:
“We have already witnessed newspapers collapse at the feet of the Internet. While many are hanging on (by a thread) some have already given up and become online-only or closed down completely.
“Next in line are the news stations.
“On June 19th our entire media structure will change with the release of the iPhone 3G S. The ability to record, edit and post video online within seconds may be the largest difference-maker since email. While it’s going to use social media as tools, mobile video is going to catch on faster the Facebook and have a larger impact then Twitter – it’s going to be massive….
“So beginning on June 19th [when the iPhone 3G S is available] everything that happens — anywhere — is fair game….
“Every athlete and celebrity should prepare to have their actions documented in video when they are in public, and any type of event will be publicly broadcast on YouTube just seconds after it happens — which is where TV stations get hit. From this point forward, citizens are now the leading news reporters.
“TV Stations [sic] are now behind the curve and will begin to join newspapers in line at the history museum unless they adapt with the times. They will need to embrace mobile video, not shy away from it and ignore it.
“They will need to engage with their viewers and talk with them, work with them, and embrace them. Finally, they need to offer additional insight and analysis that we can’t find on YouTube.”
My views
To coin a phrase, in what cave has Haber been living for the past several years and in what cave does he think TV stations have been living?
Has he never seen — let alone used — a camera phone with good video recording capabilities? Perhaps he has used a camera phone but has been unable to figure out how to transmit videos from his phone to video sharing sites?
Has he never seen the enormous number of camera phone videos on YouTube, Vimeo, Yahoo Video, etc.? Has he never seen the huge number of camera phone videos of news events — posted online for years — including those from Iran?
Based on what Haber wrote he appears amazingly unfamiliar with the explosion of video recording on camera phones around the world. What’s more, he thinks TV stations also are blind to the situation. Perhaps he’s not familiar with CNN’s iReport or the camera phone videos used by TV stations and the discussions about mobile video in TV stations across the country.
Swayed by the God Apple?
Perhaps Haber has “seen the light” of the Godhead iPhone 3G S and realized that cellular phones can be used for video recording (see below)! Who knew?!
To be just slightly more charitable, perhaps Haber realizes camera phones with video recording capabilities exist, but believes the new iPhone will let loose the sole clarion call responsible for creating millions of “citizen journalists” — whom he doesn’t seem to think have existed before June 19.
Although I haven’t yet tested the iPhone 3G S, I assume it will indeed be very easy to shoot videos and post them to Web sites. I also assume it will spark many more people to shoot and post videos.
But to write, as Haber does, that “the world will change” for TV news stations is rather ridiculous.
Reiter,
Thanks for the read and putting some thought into my post. I think you may have misinterpreted some of what I was saying. I am well aware that mobile video is already available (you can read a post by my colleague about using social media for reporting in Iran here: http://racetalkblog.com/2009/06/14/iranian-correspondents-file-by-twitter-and-youtube/), but it’s different with the iPhone. Like no other mobile device, the iPhone is massive in scale and attention. Based on its mass appeal, draw and popularity, every new feature that is added dominates the media and Web and is very impactful in setting mainstream trends.
When I say that mobile video will be a problem for TV stations, I am looking at your local/regional TV stations. CNN has clearly seen the trend and the iReport is an example of what every local station needs to move towards. Perhaps I should have said that iPhone video is a serious problem for many TV crews/reporters, as their jobs could very well be replaced by citizen journalists. Meanwhile, news station editors will probably have even more work as they will need to search and sort through countless videos, determine what is suitable for on-air and package it with an objective view. However, if TV stations don’t take a hint from CNN and change the way they have operated in the past (like many newspapers did) then they may very well see the same fate.
So yes, the world will change for TV stations, as the way they obtain and package content could completely change.
-Ben Haber, www.racetalkblog.com
Posted by: Ben Haber | June 18, 2009 at 11:40 AM