[LINK] Desperate revenue models, desperate need for better journalism

[Kim Holburn]

Adriana Huffington has an interesting article on Murdoch's sabre  
rattling.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/journalism-2009-desperate_b_374642.html

> Get real, you guys. The world has changed. Here are some facts  
> culled from one of the most popular anthems to the impact of  
> technology on our world, a video originally put together by a math  
> teacher, Karl Frisch <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8> :
>
> Did you know that newspaper circulation is down 7 million over the  
> last 25 years while unique readership of online news is up 34  
> million in the last 5 years?
>
> Did you know newspaper advertising fell nearly 19 percent this year  
> while web advertising is up 9 percent and mobile advertising is up  
> 18 percent?
>
> Did you know that more video was uploaded to YouTube in the last 2  
> months than if ABC, CBS, and NBC had been airing all-new content  
> every minute of every day since 1948?
>
> And did you know that we have access to more than 1 trillion web  
> pages, 100,000 iPhone apps, and send more text messages a day than  
> there are people on the planet? And Rupert Murdoch still thinks  
> aggregators are the problem?
>
....

> And yet the contributions of citizen journalists, bloggers, and  
> others who aren't paid to cover the news are constantly mocked and  
> derided by the critics of new media who clearly don't understand  
> that technology has enabled millions of consumers to shift their  
> focus from passive observation to active participation -- from couch  
> potato to self-expression. Writing blogs, sending tweets, updating  
> your Facebook page, editing photos, uploading videos, and making  
> music are just a few of the active entertainment options now  
> available. But when the data began to show a significant shift in  
> consumer habits, traditional media responded by belittling web  
> journalism.
>
> The same people who never question why consumers would sit on a  
> couch and watch TV for 8 hours straight can't understand why someone  
> would find it rewarding to weigh in on the issues -- great and small  
> -- that interest them. For free. They don't understand the people  
> who contribute to Wikipedia for free, who maintain their own blogs  
> for free, who Twitter for free, who constantly refresh and update  
> their Facebook page for free, who want to help tell the stories of  
> what is happening in their lives and in their communities... for free.
>

Kim

-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
Ph: +39 06 855 4294  M: +39 3494957443
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