Current Articles | RSS Feed RSS Feed

Wired Magazine's Editor on the Challenges Internet Journalism is Posing to Traditional Press

Posted by Alecia OBrien on Fri, Aug 21, 2009
Share on Twitter Twitter | Share on Facebook Facebook | Submit to Digg digg it |  Submit to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon |  Share on LinkedIn LinkedIn | Submit to Reddit reddit 

What does it mean when the content recommended by social media communities becomes more influential within popular culture, than from an accredited news source such as, say, The New York Times?

Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of US technology and culture magazine Wired magazine and Free: The Future of a Radical Price ($26.99 in print, but free to read online, of course), is so over the idea of conventional news media that Anderson doesn't even use the words "news" or "media." In his recent blog post on The Economics of Free, Anderson talks about the future of journalism and why he would rather read his Twitter feed than the daily newspaper. As reported in Spiegel Online:

"I figure by the time something gets to me it's been vetted by those I trust. So the stupid stuff that doesn't matter is not going to get to me."

The interview is worth a read. Here's an extremely successful author and technology magazine editor refusing to address the press industry by its name - advocating free content instead. But by the end of the Q&A, Anderson makes it clear that no 'perfect' model for profit in the newsworld exists yet.

You've got to wonder what falls into Anderson's "stupid stuff" category. But more than that, you've got to think about who your own influencers are and the sources behind the materials you're reading. Who are Digging, bookmarking and tweeting the news you rely upon?

Anderson believes the most valuable commodity these days is attention, not content. If that's true, advertisers and media outlets will also have to figure out a way to cater to these nuanced online communities - taking into account their need to remain profitable.
Tags: 

Comments

"Anderson believes the most valuable commodity these days is attention, not content." - agree 100 pc. But this realy worrying sign of society health and ability to make a choise.
Posted @ Wednesday, August 26, 2009 12:05 AM by Ruta
Post Comment
Name
 *
Email
 *
Website (optional)
Comment
 *

Allowed tags: <a> link, <b> bold, <i> italics