This is one article that I came across this week that really made me step back and pause. The link to the article is here. Is this really the right direction to be headed? I have been headed in the exact opposite direction from this CEO for the past 12 months and thinking that everyone was seeing the light – that content needs to be free and that with the proliferation of social media, bloggers, and social “news” web site and the amazingly fast growth of Twitter, Facebook, etc the desire to pay for content was not jsut dwindling but disappearing. And then I saw this… I do not know Source Media CEO Jim Malkin’s personally, have never met him, am not in a situation to say – I am right, you are wrong. But I caution him to look at the indicators.
Reminds me of the HBO special
In many ways this reminds me of an HBO special I watched some time back with Bob Costas that I often tell people about. He was doing a year in review program and was interviewing a Sports Journalist and then brought in a notorious Sports Blogger and had a debate between the two. At one point, the Journalist stated to the blogger that “you have no right to be in this situation, you have no training, you did not go to school for journalism, what makes you someone who can be an authority on sports” to which the blogger responded – “all I can tell you is I write and people read and follow me”. It seems that it is that simple. We are living in a time of choice – with many people out there writing, authoring, spreading news, delivering content. With so much free content out there, will people really pay? Would you pay for this journalist’s writing instead of the blogger just because he was trained in journalism? I would suggest not.
My recommendations…
I think Mr. Malkin’s theory that relying on advertising is a tough thing to do is accurate. But to then take it to a model of charging for content – that is going too far and possibly a suicide mission. The article concludes with the quote – ““If what we have isn’t valuable and no one wants to pay for it, maybe we don’t have a business.” – while bold and definitely defining, I think it is too risky an alternative and not rooted in the current climate for content. Instead, the real challenge needs to be in search of a new business model – one that combines advertising with content and education. It needs to acknowledge that free content is the way of the future and that to fight it is like trying to hold back a wave while standing at the beach. Do I know all of the answers – no. Does anyone – I would guess no. But someone, some group of someones is going to figure out and those people are going to emerge the winners in the next generation of media and content producers.
Thoughts?
