How the web changed the economy of news in all media
Listening to all the directors of media companies involved in producing news, what they say about micropayments , Kindle , budget financing of the media , again about micropayments , collusion , banning Google and the like, which could save their business, I come to the conclusion that development The industry has been passing by them for ten years. I offer them the following theses to all those interested in order to understand how things have changed.
Anyone who wants to build a viable business on the news, must accept and use these changes. Maybe I will miss something, but you, if anything, add in the comments.
UPDATE: Jay Rosen recommends reading this article along with this one written by David Sull: “A newspaper is a delivery service that journalists were randomly hired by.” He’s right. This greatly clarifies the meaning of the following.
In the physical world, news came in a bundle. You read about politics, next to it is written about sports, that's about finances, next to them are movie reviews. And you bought a newspaper, only to find out the score of yesterday's match. No more.
Probably, it is not at all a coincidence that the majority has now switched from the consumption of news in general to the periodic “tingling” .
')
If you placed an advertisement on the third page of a newspaper with a circulation of 100 thousand, or in a program that 5 million people are watching, you did not think about those who bought the newspaper for two figures of a football match, or about those who only accidentally ran into the kitchen to put a kettle during your transfer. But we were still convinced that each copy of the one hundred thousandth edition was read by 3-4 people.
On the Internet, you see a specific number of people who have viewed this or that page. Moreover, you know exactly how many clicks on your ad. And how much later did the purchase.
Moreover, you know where the user came from, where he left, what keywords he used when searching, what country he was from, what computer he had, and a lot more if he filled out your profile.
From this there are two serious consequences. They are only now reaching some of the players in the advertising market.
First, advertisers are waiting for more. From the printed / broadcast payment per thousand views, they switched to pay per thousand clicks, and from there to pay per action (for example, purchase).
Secondly, it means that editors and managers now know much better not only what readers read, but what they want to read (what they are looking for). By the way, my name is Britney Spears.
In the print media, you could take money for what goes on the cover, and for advertising. On the Internet, any attempt to introduce paid access dramatically reduces readability . Because you cut your own distribution channels, block access not only to Google, but also to the readers themselves, who would otherwise send your content, link to it, copy it to their blogs. It is easier to calculate the square of a circle than to make money in such a business model.
Technologies became cheaper even long before the Internet. Get at least satellite TV against a network of television towers, or a computer layout instead of typographical typing. But web, and now mobile devices have reduced the cost of collecting, producing and distributing news to almost zero. And the cost reduction continues. When it becomes easier to publish a publication than to make a phone call, it creates problems for any business relying or paying a loan for old equipment and technology.
Sometimes people have to be reminded of the basic laws of supply and demand. Previously, there was not enough journalists for everything, now there is not as much content as you have ever read. Any attempt to “sell” content will again run into a free alternative.
If the reader needs a book review, he will go to Amazon. Music? He will go to a social network, Last.fm, iTunes, MySpace ... Sport? On any forum. All journalists who make products in these or similar areas will have problems.
Just as the time and place constraints were overcome, the distribution networks happened as well. Before the web, the distribution cost very well. In times of the web, email or a mobile phone is enough to distribute material. Social networks are more powerful and efficient than trucks carrying newspapers. And it is not at all necessary to sell part of their premises in order to pay for the delivery.
Oh yes, here's another trouble for the news.
The monopoly on advertising has disappeared. If before the advertiser could only choose between you and the local free newspaper ads, now he chooses from a dozen local media, national directories, search engines, social networks, or, God forbid, he will become a media producer. This competition has reduced the cost and raised the value of innovation. What have you done to withstand this competition?
Since everyone can now publish and distribute, the seller can communicate directly with the buyer. If Threshers can give out discount coupons on their own , and this becomes (wildly) popular, then why should they advertise in newspapers and magazines? If the authorities can publish orders and laws on their own website, or even publish their leaflet , why should they pay newspapers for it? If Coca-Cola can organize brand testing on its website and at the same time collect data on consumers, why should it limit itself to a 30 second spot in the middle of the program “Britain's Got Talent”?
Google rules this space, not you. Amazon rules this space. iTunes rules. eBay rules Facebook rules Craigslist rules. If you want to rule in a new environment, you must learn to understand the context in which the user operates. Search engine optimization is just one aspect. The other is social media marketing. Understand how the dominance of a single site in a particular industry affects your strategy, and acknowledge that you are not alone in determining your own destiny. Yes, Google stole all the trucks, Amazon stole all the newspaper stalls. Yes, and you missed a lot of things .
When everything is digital, something new is possible. Audio, video, text, photos, animation, everything has become ones and zeros. You have to understand what your new possibilities are - from broadcasting a live broadcast from a mobile phone camera to publishing a photo on the terms of a Creative Commons license , or to disclosing all of its sources so that users can increase the value of your materials through use in their products. The value of your company lies not only within the walls of the editorial board, but also outside it.
The PR industry is usually underestimated in terms of undermining journalism. First, it provides cheap news, which in turn leads to a growing number of fictional events, reports and reports. This problem will only get worse, because PR is beginning to remove intermediaries, turning directly to the audience.
Secondly, PR greatly influences journalistic talents. In other words, news media has become a source of personnel for the PR industry. It has already become the norm that journalists who have failed to feed themselves on a meager newspaper salary are working in PR. And this means that the cost of recruitment and staff training for newspapers is increasing. Because among the old journalists, few people can educate young people informally. Moreover, honored journalism students are often taken by the PR industry before they work in the media. Thus, journalism is experiencing problems with attracting precisely those brains that could save her.
Oh yes! And what about the money? They have a competitor. What you should pay attention to is social capital. Anyone who considers non-professional media unimportant, because they have no brand, or because the fashion for them will pass, does not understand the dynamics of social capital. Many read blogs or consume custom content because they trust this person, not the brand. Many are published independently based on the interests of reputation , knowledge and connections. Many people link to articles or contribute to the content because the journalist has invested social capital in them, or his media has created the basis for this.
Like this. Did I miss something?
Paul Bradshaw
June 4, 2009.
From the translator:
The article was translated with the personal permission of the author. At his request, I indicate the address of the article directly in the text:
http://onlinejournalismblog.com/2009/06/04/how-the-web-changed-the-economics-of-news-in-all-media/
I hope the administration of Habr will take into account the request of the author and forgive me a forced violation of the format.
Anyone who wants to build a viable business on the news, must accept and use these changes. Maybe I will miss something, but you, if anything, add in the comments.
UPDATE: Jay Rosen recommends reading this article along with this one written by David Sull: “A newspaper is a delivery service that journalists were randomly hired by.” He’s right. This greatly clarifies the meaning of the following.
1. Atomization of news consumption
In the physical world, news came in a bundle. You read about politics, next to it is written about sports, that's about finances, next to them are movie reviews. And you bought a newspaper, only to find out the score of yesterday's match. No more.
Probably, it is not at all a coincidence that the majority has now switched from the consumption of news in general to the periodic “tingling” .
')
2. Measurable audiences
If you placed an advertisement on the third page of a newspaper with a circulation of 100 thousand, or in a program that 5 million people are watching, you did not think about those who bought the newspaper for two figures of a football match, or about those who only accidentally ran into the kitchen to put a kettle during your transfer. But we were still convinced that each copy of the one hundred thousandth edition was read by 3-4 people.
On the Internet, you see a specific number of people who have viewed this or that page. Moreover, you know exactly how many clicks on your ad. And how much later did the purchase.
Moreover, you know where the user came from, where he left, what keywords he used when searching, what country he was from, what computer he had, and a lot more if he filled out your profile.
From this there are two serious consequences. They are only now reaching some of the players in the advertising market.
First, advertisers are waiting for more. From the printed / broadcast payment per thousand views, they switched to pay per thousand clicks, and from there to pay per action (for example, purchase).
Secondly, it means that editors and managers now know much better not only what readers read, but what they want to read (what they are looking for). By the way, my name is Britney Spears.
3. Conflicting Business Models
In the print media, you could take money for what goes on the cover, and for advertising. On the Internet, any attempt to introduce paid access dramatically reduces readability . Because you cut your own distribution channels, block access not only to Google, but also to the readers themselves, who would otherwise send your content, link to it, copy it to their blogs. It is easier to calculate the square of a circle than to make money in such a business model.
4. The fall in the cost of collecting and producing news
Technologies became cheaper even long before the Internet. Get at least satellite TV against a network of television towers, or a computer layout instead of typographical typing. But web, and now mobile devices have reduced the cost of collecting, producing and distributing news to almost zero. And the cost reduction continues. When it becomes easier to publish a publication than to make a phone call, it creates problems for any business relying or paying a loan for old equipment and technology.
5. Time and place are no longer limited.
Sometimes people have to be reminded of the basic laws of supply and demand. Previously, there was not enough journalists for everything, now there is not as much content as you have ever read. Any attempt to “sell” content will again run into a free alternative.
6. The depreciation of some types of journalism
If the reader needs a book review, he will go to Amazon. Music? He will go to a social network, Last.fm, iTunes, MySpace ... Sport? On any forum. All journalists who make products in these or similar areas will have problems.
7. End of monopolies
Just as the time and place constraints were overcome, the distribution networks happened as well. Before the web, the distribution cost very well. In times of the web, email or a mobile phone is enough to distribute material. Social networks are more powerful and efficient than trucks carrying newspapers. And it is not at all necessary to sell part of their premises in order to pay for the delivery.
Oh yes, here's another trouble for the news.
The monopoly on advertising has disappeared. If before the advertiser could only choose between you and the local free newspaper ads, now he chooses from a dozen local media, national directories, search engines, social networks, or, God forbid, he will become a media producer. This competition has reduced the cost and raised the value of innovation. What have you done to withstand this competition?
8. Remove intermediaries
Since everyone can now publish and distribute, the seller can communicate directly with the buyer. If Threshers can give out discount coupons on their own , and this becomes (wildly) popular, then why should they advertise in newspapers and magazines? If the authorities can publish orders and laws on their own website, or even publish their leaflet , why should they pay newspapers for it? If Coca-Cola can organize brand testing on its website and at the same time collect data on consumers, why should it limit itself to a 30 second spot in the middle of the program “Britain's Got Talent”?
9. The emergence of monopolies
Google rules this space, not you. Amazon rules this space. iTunes rules. eBay rules Facebook rules Craigslist rules. If you want to rule in a new environment, you must learn to understand the context in which the user operates. Search engine optimization is just one aspect. The other is social media marketing. Understand how the dominance of a single site in a particular industry affects your strategy, and acknowledge that you are not alone in determining your own destiny. Yes, Google stole all the trucks, Amazon stole all the newspaper stalls. Yes, and you missed a lot of things .
10. Digitization and Convergence
When everything is digital, something new is possible. Audio, video, text, photos, animation, everything has become ones and zeros. You have to understand what your new possibilities are - from broadcasting a live broadcast from a mobile phone camera to publishing a photo on the terms of a Creative Commons license , or to disclosing all of its sources so that users can increase the value of your materials through use in their products. The value of your company lies not only within the walls of the editorial board, but also outside it.
11. The rise of the PR industry
The PR industry is usually underestimated in terms of undermining journalism. First, it provides cheap news, which in turn leads to a growing number of fictional events, reports and reports. This problem will only get worse, because PR is beginning to remove intermediaries, turning directly to the audience.
Secondly, PR greatly influences journalistic talents. In other words, news media has become a source of personnel for the PR industry. It has already become the norm that journalists who have failed to feed themselves on a meager newspaper salary are working in PR. And this means that the cost of recruitment and staff training for newspapers is increasing. Because among the old journalists, few people can educate young people informally. Moreover, honored journalism students are often taken by the PR industry before they work in the media. Thus, journalism is experiencing problems with attracting precisely those brains that could save her.
12. New currency
Oh yes! And what about the money? They have a competitor. What you should pay attention to is social capital. Anyone who considers non-professional media unimportant, because they have no brand, or because the fashion for them will pass, does not understand the dynamics of social capital. Many read blogs or consume custom content because they trust this person, not the brand. Many are published independently based on the interests of reputation , knowledge and connections. Many people link to articles or contribute to the content because the journalist has invested social capital in them, or his media has created the basis for this.
Like this. Did I miss something?
Paul Bradshaw
June 4, 2009.
From the translator:
The article was translated with the personal permission of the author. At his request, I indicate the address of the article directly in the text:
http://onlinejournalismblog.com/2009/06/04/how-the-web-changed-the-economics-of-news-in-all-media/
I hope the administration of Habr will take into account the request of the author and forgive me a forced violation of the format.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/288176/
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