How does internet shape the future of journalism?

TIP OF THE ICEBERG

More tools, more devices, more creators, more content shape a sharing society where everyone competes for influence and attention.

Conversations about the future of newspapers recall the story of John Jacob Astor at the bar of the Titanic:

“I know I asked for ice but this is ridiculous,” Astor quipped when informed the ship had struck an iceberg.

Ten years ago the captains of news saw the emergence of the consumer Internet as a way to defend and extend markets, reduce costs and drive profits through synergies with digital media. I know I asked for ice. They were also warned that the new technologies would disrupt their markets, challenge their control, and create new competitors. ... but this is ridiculous.

A new wave of digital technologies and web services will enable ageneration of savvy storytellers. They will create content and transactcommerce through immersive experiences that make a newspaper look like a sunken relic. More content will be available in more formats than ever. It will be created, edited, distributed and shared by consumers. Anyone can find what they want then act on it. A small sample of what’s ahead:


A visual Internet, accessible on many devices, in which stories unfold in a video so real that consumers believe they are there.Voluntary ads, each relative to a consumer’s wishes and desires, delivered at desired times through all forms of communication.Personal news networks in which skilled editors, producers and content managers deploy multi-media to inform each other.

Access to knowledge has been a defining story of civil society. Information technologies have historically redistributed access and knowledge from controlling institutions to the masses. In the current epochal transition, knowledge and economics are redistributed in a connected society with ubiquitous access to news and information. Privileged institutions are no longer able to dominate markets by exercising control over them.

400 million digital cameras by 2008, many embedded in mobile communications devices, capturing and delivering life as it occurs. Pervasive media -- media everywhere -- with a dazzling array of mobile applications for transactions, environmental sensing, wireless transmitting, and personal information management of records,music, photos, research and data.

Consumers become the important storytellers of the era. They trust each other. They become self-reliant on the stories they create, skeptical of the stories created by “trusted brands” or“trusted institutions.” Although passive consumption of news will continue, new forms of interaction will emerge. Even traditional consumers will find ways to make content more meaningful.

To stay afloat, media companies must reimagine storytelling forms to vie for consumer attention. They must respond to the convergence of technological innovation with imagination. And they must react to the consumer’s creation of content with awe and respect


GROWTH AND PROFITABILITY OPPORTUNITIES IN VISIBLE FUTURE

Between now and 2010, enabling technologies and emerging consumer behaviors will compel companies to open content to consumer markets. Successful enterprises will create lean, transparent organizations that provide content and transaction services across digital platforms to an array of personal, mobile information-communication devices. The closed and proprietary media business models of the past will give way to open models that facilitate transactions in which consumers create, compile, edit, share and distribute content.