If you are in the news business, be prepared to spend, spend, spend in digital media before making any money.
At least that’s the view of Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger. Appearing before a UK parliamentary committee into media ownership, he gave this assessment of the future:
For at least ten years we are going to have to have an act of faith and pump money into digital markets without significant return
Rusbridger talked about how the two main sources of revenue, circulation and classifieds were disappearing. This led to what he called a “spiral of decline”, as newspaper owners then cut back on editorial so there was less to read.
His newspaper, The Guardian, is aggressively moving into the digital realm. Ultimately, Rusbridger believes, the financial climate for news will change, “because societies need news, web-based models will spring up”.
This assessment is spot on. News organisations should be investing in new ways of reaching the public, exploring new models of journalism. And yes, this requires a leap of faith.
The other option is to slowly die by a thousand cuts.
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