Msg to Old Media: Embrace the Internet (or Die)

Posted by Paul Woodland | No Comments

Online mania has swept over even the oldest of Old Media in the past few months. Maybe it’s because those that can’t adapt are seeing their profits drop through the floor, and finally realizing, “It’s the Internet, stupid.”

Major newspapers across the country are cutting jobs and making me thankful that their rejection letters pushed me into marketing. The New York Times has followed the pack by slashing newsroom staff and launching its misguided Times Select, which I never intend to read (and to which I therefore will not subscribe). For a great analysis of The Times boondoggle see Jay Rosen’s PressThink. The newspapers are desperately trying to hold on to advertising revenue that is quickly slipping onto the internet and elsewhere.

In promising news for recently “reassigned” writers, the youngish Yahoo is hiring reporters to write original content for finance and other areas. Neo-classical media empire News Corp. is also doing amazingly well. Mogul Murdoch, who predicts the end of newspapers and is currently shopping for internet acquisitions to bedazzle his crown, had his best year ever. He raked in 23.4 million for himself, while News Corp. reported profits of $2.1 billion U.S. bucks. Wow! That’s Citigroup type profits. I guess the profits make sense, since headliners like the Simpsons, The O.C., Arrested Development, and of course Kitchen Confidential place Fox atop a cash cow of fixated eyeballs.

That is really all this media shakeup comes down to. It’s an all out war for eyeballs and attention by whatever means necessary, Internet or otherwise. But then, that’s what it’s always been about.

Comments