Media Mongrels, Welcome to the World of Common Sense

Check out I Want Media this week. One of the headlines talks of the utter common sense that media leaders are exhibiting in the sprawling, all-encompassing internet age that is upon us. The article, Newspapers, Magazines Face Challenges In Internet Age, But Will Survive, tells of the epiphanies of the internet counterparts to popular media outlets, more specifically the realization that consumers don't want to pay for content they are used to getting for free.

Gerard Broussard, senior partner and director of media analytics at GroupM Interaction, is open about his confusion regarding the current state of internet media, and the capapbilities of advertising to cover the cost issues in the future.

"A lot of it is because it's free," Broussard said. "Ultimately, there are going to have to be pay models."

But, as the author of the article, David Goetzl, says,

"that could be a challenge, since the younger audiences some advertisers covet--those younger than 25 who like their content gratis--will one day make up the bulk of print consumers."


Let me just say that I enjoy the article so much because it presents a full-circle irony. The bigwigs of media conglomeration have gotten by so long by the mantra of
"profit motive, profit motive, profit motive" (and I won't even start on the sacrifice in content made as a result) while meanwhile, a gen-x subculture of media consumers was creating itself, based on the premise that information access should be free and open. Ah, irony.