Monday, October 26, 2009

Newspapers or Writers


“Do we need newspapers or just newspaper reporters? The internet is not destroying newspapers; their poor choices of opinions and content take care of that.”

There is so much discussion among consumers and bellyaching from newspapers: are blogs and the internet stealing market share from newspapers; are papers becoming irrelevant?  Yes.
The format of the newspaper and the close-minded attitude of editors are responsible for the failing.  Blogs, Twitter, and RSS feeds are the new newspapers and they bring the information to the consumer, rather than the consumer going to it.  The information is always current and chosen by the needs, wants, and likes of the reader, not the editor – Ala cart news service has arrived!
Newspapers will ultimately lose because of bad attitudes, and BS agendas, but there will always be a need for great writers and reporters.  Without the discovery and writing of the reporters, there would be no information for the bloggers. 

As always, please post your thoughts.
Cheers,
Toby

Friday, October 2, 2009

Social Media and Communication

Thanks to Social Media, companies are rethinking how they communicate (and interact) with, their customers.  The good new is that information now flows both ways and companies are replacing communication with collaboration.   David Pakman validates this (and my blog "what to do about social media") with his wonderful article from Fast Company.
If you are still pushing information to your audience rather than receiving it from them, you will soon find yourself with no one to push.

Cheers,
Toby