It won't of course be news journalism as we know it. But at least it will consign most of the crap that passes for journalism these days to the scrap heap. Do we really need 50 people following celebrities? And 50 photographers? And filing the same story, give or take an adverb or two.
The demise of the msm will also be the end of celebrities with nothing to celebrate. Jipee.
We at ET have had half a decade providing free content. I don't see what the problem is. There is writing here as good as most of the msm. It's not going to be free, anyway, in the long run. Like all dynamic economic systems, it's supply and demand that regulates price. The supply of news is now so overproduced, that it is no wonder the 'price' has dropped to zero.
A reduction in supply will reintroduce price - but I think it will be user generated media that benefit, not the old broadsheets and berliners or even the commercial TV stations. You can't be me, I'm taken
Unfortunately, that process uses criteria established by, ultimately, the owners of the paper meaning there is a solid dose of Value Detracted as well.
;-)
Actually, the operations I mentioned, either printed ( Metro or 20 minutes) or online (TPM, Gigaom) do all employ paid staff. And no, they don't merely cut and paste wire contents: based on Nick Davies' book, that would be the paid publications job :) Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
