Profiting from Print Media’s Demise, Social Media’s Rise
Posted on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
A. J. Leibling once wrote, “Freedom of the press is for those who own one.” Before shedding a tear over the demise of newspapers, remember the death grip that media moguls held them in for decades. If the Old Media Order is finally passing, consider it a long overdue ride on time’s tumbrel.
Why mourn the fate of The York Times or other members of the print media establishment? They will evolve or pass on. It’s the way of things in this business, and as students of the history of journalism, The Times most certainly knows that.
The evolution of media always follows three distinct phases: innovation, consolidation and upheaval, and then the process starts all over again.
For print media, innovation began in the 1830s with “penny papers” that made news and information (with a heavy overlay of the publisher’s opinion) cheap and widely available. Penny papers founded by Greeley, Pulitzer and Ochs were so successful that they evolved into major dailies like the New York Herald, Baltimore Sun and New York Times.
Then came consolidation. At the beginning of the 20th century, for example, New York City had 40 major daily newspapers. By 1940 that number had shrunk to eight. Now the Big Apple is down to two. These leftovers from another age are barely hanging on as new online and social media wrest their advertising revenue and readers, and make newsprint as outdated as the dodo bird.
Today the industry is in full bore upheaval with an explosion of blogs, mini-blogs, video and podcasts, and the conversion of print media into online versions. Just like their penny paper predecessors, most online and social media is cheap or free and often heavily opinionated, thus derided by the surviving mainstream print press for its “bias” and “lack of objectivity.” When you hear such criticism, remember that what sounds like a scoff may be a dying gasp.
It’s the democratic nature of social media — the ability to say whatever you want without editorial censorship, rejection, or fear of censure for violating some code of journalistic correctness — that makes it so uniquely valuable to its audiences. Once again, as happened nearly 200 years ago, we are in an era where media offers choice. Only this time, the choices are seemingly limitless: not just in the 10s of media vehicles, but in the 10s or 100s of thousands.
Where’s the “profit” from social media? Simply this: Online media sites are as much devoted to opinion as to straight news. Arguably even more so. They seek expert viewpoints that resonate with and help their audiences. This means you, buddy.
Who’d have thought 10 or even 5 years ago that we’d see mainstream media showcasing opinion pieces by corporate leaders? It’s happening. The online versions of publications as illustrious as Forbes and Business Week now seek and publish great content from companies large and small.
They must — or else. To paraphrase Andrew Marvell, a 17th century writer who lived long enough to see the dawn of newspapers in his native Great Britain, “At their back they always hear, Time’s winged chariot hurrying near.” At the reins and coming up swiftly: the New Media Order.
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