As I was reading All Things Digital on the Wall Street Journal online portal, I noticed that my Facebook friend Rafat Ali had sold the popular digital news site paidContent for somewhere between $25 and $30 million dollars to English publishing conglomerate, The Guardian. Under the terms of the deal Guardian will take a hands off approach and let Ali and his team do what they do best: keep us informed on the latest technology news.
Normally, I am not a fan of media consolidation; however, my concerns are usually when big companies merge. I actually am more of a fan of deals like this when social media pioneers and gurus like Ali are financially rewarded. Why? First, it will encourage more blogging teams to produce quality content that draws eyeballs if they want the same financial rewards. Second, it brings new players into the media game with new ideas and approaches to reporting that is sorely needed. Third, it demonstrates that the big companies are willing to pay real dollars to become real players in the digital media world.
Media consolidation is not always evil; however, it has to be regulated. Now I know that this may not be popular with some of my supply-side economic friends, but regulation is often needed because human beings are complicated creatures who behave both good and bad. At the end of the day, change is coming to media because of the impact of convergence.
To be sure, the media conglomerates are finally beginning to understand that social media is different and cannot be controlled and manipulated as easily as traditional media because of the democratizing effect of the Internet and social media. Politicians and big business are just beginning to learn these lessons, but the Google mantra of "do no evil" is a start. Even though, Google and these companies are far from perfect, the idea of dealing with the public in a forthright and transparent manner is what is driving the web.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
The Convergence Effect: Consolidation Is Now Impacting Brand New Media!
As I was reading All Things Digital on the Wall Street Journal online portal, I noticed that my Facebook friend Rafat Ali had sold the popular digital news site paidContent for somewhere between $25 and $30 million dollars to English publishing conglomerate, The Guardian. Under the terms of the deal Guardian will take a hands off approach and let Ali and his team do what they do best: keep us informed on the latest technology news.
Normally, I am not a fan of media consolidation; however, my concerns are usually when big companies merge. I actually am more of a fan of deals like this when social media pioneers and gurus like Ali are financially rewarded. Why? First, it will encourage more blogging teams to produce quality content that draws eyeballs if they want the same financial rewards. Second, it brings new players into the media game with new ideas and approaches to reporting that is sorely needed. Third, it demonstrates that the big companies are willing to pay real dollars to become real players in the digital media world.
Media consolidation is not always evil; however, it has to be regulated. Now I know that this may not be popular with some of my supply-side economic friends, but regulation is often needed because human beings are complicated creatures who behave both good and bad. At the end of the day, change is coming to media because of the impact of convergence.
To be sure, the media conglomerates are finally beginning to understand that social media is different and cannot be controlled and manipulated as easily as traditional media because of the democratizing effect of the Internet and social media. Politicians and big business are just beginning to learn these lessons, but the Google mantra of "do no evil" is a start. Even though, Google and these companies are far from perfect, the idea of dealing with the public in a forthright and transparent manner is what is driving the web.
Normally, I am not a fan of media consolidation; however, my concerns are usually when big companies merge. I actually am more of a fan of deals like this when social media pioneers and gurus like Ali are financially rewarded. Why? First, it will encourage more blogging teams to produce quality content that draws eyeballs if they want the same financial rewards. Second, it brings new players into the media game with new ideas and approaches to reporting that is sorely needed. Third, it demonstrates that the big companies are willing to pay real dollars to become real players in the digital media world.
Media consolidation is not always evil; however, it has to be regulated. Now I know that this may not be popular with some of my supply-side economic friends, but regulation is often needed because human beings are complicated creatures who behave both good and bad. At the end of the day, change is coming to media because of the impact of convergence.
To be sure, the media conglomerates are finally beginning to understand that social media is different and cannot be controlled and manipulated as easily as traditional media because of the democratizing effect of the Internet and social media. Politicians and big business are just beginning to learn these lessons, but the Google mantra of "do no evil" is a start. Even though, Google and these companies are far from perfect, the idea of dealing with the public in a forthright and transparent manner is what is driving the web.
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