I was fortunate to hear a presentation today by Brian Stelter, the New York Times reporter and blogger. The occasion was the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS) 2008 Best of Web Awards and Webmaster Convocation. My son was a finalist for the student contribution category. Brian was the keynote speaker.

Brian went to high school in the county and was an intern at MCPS. He was an early Web enthusiast and was blogging before anyone called it blogging, first writing about the Goosebumps book series written by R.L. Stine. In 2004 he started writing about cable news and gained a lot of attention from people in that industry. Brian gained a lot of attention for his expose’ regarding the CBS alteration of Katie Couric’s photo. While he thought he was a tech nerd at first, he soon realized it was the content that drove him and was most important to the value of the Internet.

By doing what he enjoyed, through school and college, Brian gained visibility. He was hired last year by the NYT to help move it faster into the modern online world. He described the venerable newspaper company as having many parallels to the education institutions in which he had worked. They are political, with competing silos or departments. Brian did a great job describing the huge challenges the traditional media outlets face when trying to provide online services – the many competing interests inherent in decisions. He also sees ongoing visible changes – new reporter hires at the paper having some Web and technology expertise, old-timers leaving positions that will not be refilled, and a changing sense of which companies are really competition to the Times.

It was interesting to hear Brian talk about blogging and how most of them are read by very few people. While this is true, does it matter? Many bloggers are writing for themselves as much as to draw high numbers of readers. When I asked Brian how the NYT determines what readers want online, he admitted a need for improvements in understanding reader interests and desires.

Perhaps a lack of understanding its customers is the real threat to the traditional media outlets rather than the online medium. While one can question much about bloggers, the ones trying to gain readers play close attention to what draws people.

Brian’s story is inspiring to high school and college students interested in journalism and various aspects of the Internet. He did what he loved and was pursued by the Times and became one of the youngest reporters ever hired there. His mission is difficult, yet the change he is driving is inevitable.

In the geospatial industry we’ve seen the decline of printed media over the past decade. Fortunately, the media companies that provided those publications remain online with admirable coverage of geospatial news. The most widely read blogs, however, are those written by vendors. In my view, the industry could use some more independent voices online. The Geo Factor strives to provide that independent voice and encourages others to join the discussion.