Media Matters

Chris Anderson’s interview in today’s Press Gazette neatly explains for those media folk not yet familiar with his Long Tail analysis of markets what it means for mainstream media.
Two “long tails” are transforming journalism –

1. Online archives are changing the distribution of the value of stories over time. Because important stories archived online are always accessible via search engines, in the long-run they become more valuable than breaking news.
2. Blogs represent a new long tail in competing publications. Journalists and editors have so far mainly ignored blogs because their audience is currently small compared to those of Big Media (what he calls “hitism”), but they’re quickly filling the markets for niche publications which mainstream media can’t profitably serve because they can’t provide the economies of scale Big Media needs (as it usually has high overheads to maintain). But as people increasingly look for media catering to their specific interests Big Media journalists are therefore competing with bloggers for the attention (and increasingly the ad revenue which pays their salaries) of media consumers.

I wouldn’t dissent from any of that, but I’d one statement and warning.
The one competitive advantage Big Media currently has is their established, well-known and trusted, brands. But they’re not a source of sustainable competitive advantage. In time the big bloggers will see their credibility grow, their audiences (and cannibalisation of Big Media ad revenue) increase and become more of a threat to the very existence at the top of the market of established big hitters.
What can Big Media do?
Broad answer — develop your own bloggers now, as many as you possibly can in as many areas of popular interest to your established audience as possible, so you have a foothold in the fragmented future of media.
Advertising? Ad revenue will probably look like more of less from each area, but which ads up to the kind of amounts you recognise.

But if you aren’t getting out there now to be part of the party, you won’t have the cash to toast the new face of media in, say, 30 years time

# posted by Unknown @ 11:03 pm