Chris Ahearn, President of Reuters Media, recently posted a refreshing take on the traditionally depressing subject of new and old media relations.I believe in the link economy. Please feel free to link to our stories — it adds value to all producers of content. I believe you should play fair and encourage your readers to read-around to what others are producing if you use it and find it interesting.Word.
I don’t believe you could or should charge others for simply linking to your content. Appropriate excerpting and referencing are not only acceptable, but encouraged. If someone wants to create a business on the back of others’ original content, the parties should have a business relationship that benefits both.
Let’s stop whining and start having real conversations across party lines. Let’s get online publishers, search engines, aggregators, ad networks, and self-publishers (bloggers) in a virtual room and determine how we can all get along. I don’t believe any one of us should be the self-appointed Internet police; agreeing on a code of conduct and ethics is in everyone’s best interests.
Our news ecosystem is evolving and learning how it can be open, diverse, inclusive and effective. With all the new tools and capabilities we should be entering a new golden age of journalism – call it journalism 3.0. Let’s identify how we can birth it and agree what is “fair use” or “fair compensation” and have a conversation about how we can work together to fuel a vibrant, productive and trusted digital news industry. Let’s identify business models that are inclusive and that create a win-win relationship for all parties.
And I particularly enjoyed his opinion on newspaper executives who sit around wringing their hands and casting blame at everyone but themselves.
To start, yes the global economy is fairly grim and the cyclical aspects of our business are biting extremely hard in the face of the structural changes. But the Internet isn’t killing the news business any more than TV killed radio or radio killed the newspaper. Incumbent business leaders in news haven’t been keeping up. Many leaders continue to help push the business into the ditch by wasting “resources” (management speak for talented people) on recycling commodity news. Reader habits are changing and vertically curated views need to be meshed with horizontal read-around ones.Chris Ahearn "gets it." I just wish that other news executives did, too.
Blaming the new leaders or aggregators for disrupting the business of the old leaders, or saber-rattling and threatening to sue are not business strategies – they are personal therapy sessions. Go ask a music executive how well it works.
.
2 comments:
I have actually had reviewers thank me for linking to their stories and websites when I publish a post with an excerpt on the Theatre Scene. They recognize that I am driving traffic their way, and that that can only be to their benefit.
Unfortunately Chris Ahearn, it would seem, is in the minority and a bit late to the party. This is like a person having medical issues but waiting until they flatline before taking any medicine. The newspaper industry has been in a downward spiral for many years with a business model that cannot sustain itself.
It is a shame that by the time they realize the error in their ways, it may be too late. A shame because we need good reporting, the type of reporting that a blogger or another individual can not accomplish in their spare time with their personal resources. The two should help one another, but I think that the newspapers will be gone and something new will emerge after they pass, what that will be is anyone's guess.
Post a Comment
Spam, vulgar language, trolling and off-topic comments are not tolerated at SFDB and your comment will be removed if it meets this criteria.