Old Media, New Media Need to Learn from Each Other
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Online content publishers and publishing houses that produce print content, whether it be books, magazines or newspapers, sometimes have trouble understanding the very real differences between them. Yes, they both produce content -- but they go about it very differently, which leads to different cultures. This can lead to frustration whenever the two cultures meet, or old media and new media companies try to compete with each other.
Both of those are happening more and more frequently these days. AOL's merger with Time Warner was the most prominent example back in 2001 -- practically the Dark Ages -- but it was far from the last. We're also seeing smaller examples of old media and new media trying to meet, first with newspapers publishing staff-written blogs on their web sites and later with old media companies hiring independent bloggers. Not all of these bloggers are being hired simply to blog, either; last month Ana Marie Cox, formerly a political blogger, was hired by Time magazine to be their new Washington editor.
If you're looking for examples of new media and old media competing for the same audience, you don't need to look any further than TechCrunch and GigaOm. These are two huge technology sites with plenty of bloggers, and they compete fairly successfully for traffic against more traditional media. So CNet and other companies with old media roots are hiring bloggers to compete against these new media companies.
Whether you're competing with the guy from the other side of the media divide, or suddenly find yourself depending on him to help you both make it into the future intact, you need to understand him. More than that, you need to understand how he managed to get what you want, and realize that you may have to change. I'm not just talking about old media changing to compete with new media (though that's clearly necessary). I think old media and new media can learn something from each other.
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