So with some of the noise Gannett made about a month ago, and the news that the BBC is exploring user generated content, one would think that the evolution of news lies strictly in involving your audience.

Not so.

Someone made a point during the Gannett discussion about whether or not crowdsourcing was an attempt to cut down costs; although the news you get in return is of questionable quality, its fresh, its unique — and its cheap.

Well, that thought has been extended, and then some, with the outsourcing of editorial, copywriting, graphic design, and whole departments to the far east (read: India). The International Herald Tribune reports that, for example:

WAN, a Paris-based organization representing 72 national newspaper associations, conducted a global survey of about 350 newspapers in Europe, Asia and the United States, and company executives reported that they expected the outsourcing to increase, although few were willing to farm out all of their editorial functions.

Since then, the memos have been churning: The Columbus Dispatch in Ohio announced its intentions to shed 90 graphic design jobs and ship out the work to Affinity Express in Pune, India. The Contra Costa Times, a California newspaper newly acquired by Media News Group in the breakup of Knight Ridder, revealed plans to shift ad production positions to Express KCS in India, which bills itself as the “world’s media back office.”

It does mention Reuters, however, as an example of a global media business that embraces the benefits of outsourcing — and does so easily, conflicts with local guilds aside, because there are probably no real local roots to speak of (like the Associated Press).
It reminds me of that panel I attended a few weeks ago at a local University (York University, actually) — with Mat Ingram as one of the panelists. The other panelist, mentioned something that struck me at the time — that news is a commodity. But I think news only remains a commodity when you’re not able to add value in a way no one else can.

And that’s where I think that the future of news lies – the local news, news that is immediately around you, news that is contemporary and relevant, and its news you just can’t outsource.

On the other hand, it is a domain that user generated content and crowdsourcing can obviously play a role. Traditional news organizations will have to recognize these truths one day, and capitalize on some examples as News-as-community (even online ones) that are really the future of what the news can and should be.

Which is funny in some sense, given how it seems like some local newspapers have thrown in their lot with Yahoo and want to be done with it [if anyone knows of a masterplan, let me know]