There is no denying that the recent adverse weather conditions have really caught the attention of the nation. Since well before Christmas we have been subjected to news on the weather and weather on the news. Few of us don’t know the story of the woman who went out to get her Christmas turkey and has only just made it back.
Last week – and I mention this as it is quite likely that you missed it – there was a threat to the Labour leadership. The opposition spent much of the week trying to get rid of the Prime Minister and it got covered for one day before we were back to some chap talking about the economic impact of us all bunking off to make snowmen while the sun doesn’t shine.
What we are dealing with here is, in many ways, the perfect story – at least from the newsroom perspective. We love the heart-warming stories of have-a-go heroes delivering milk to old ladies. Add to this the fantastic photos of Snow Daleks, and you have the makings of a true epic. But above all, and unlike the Prime Minister story, it’s identifiable. Be it to describe our miserable journey into the office or just to say that the whole fuss is ridiculous, we all have a comment to make on it. Never before have the ‘Your Pictures’ and ‘Your Comments’ sections of news sites been more busy.
What I find really fascinating about this are the implications it has on the ongoing debate for and against monetising news content online. For the record, I completely agree with paying for comment and analysis from professionals, and do believe that this should be charged for as it would be in the street (if it protects the production of content). However, if Joe Public is helping (or even pushing) the news agenda, it changes things. Shouldn’t we get a cut if the news is predominantly made up of our stories and pictures? And would we all be so willing to send things in if we had to pay to access that content online?
