Years ago the number of ad dollars spent on online advertising overtook the amount spent on offline advertising (TV, print, radio). This demographic shift was presented as form, not essence. It was presented as the evolution of media, firms were adapting and changing. But something much deeper was happening, it’s the end of an industry cycle called ‘media’ which is being replaced by ‘independent online media’ like Zero Hedge for finance, and thousands of other sites for their respective topics. Although the MSM (Main Stream Media) fights this, it’s bigger than them, it’s not something they can control. People who are holding on to their newspapers are old and dying (no offense, Grandpa). Cursive writing is no longer being taught in schools – and why should it?
Along with this shift comes a new host of problems as well, children addicted to social media oblivious to the ‘real world’ – but in the context of the MSM, it’s just a swan song they are singing loudly ‘we are still relevant! we are still relevant’ The fact is the old MSM model doesn’t work. State sponsored media like the BBC and PBS has always been at the core of investigative journalism, anyway. WaPo is losing money at an alarming rate. From 2013 we’re talking 85% drop in profit:
The Washington Post Co. on Friday reported bad news for its newspaper division, with revenue totaling $127.3 million for the first quarter of this year — down four percent from 2012 — and an operating loss of $34.5 million. Overall, the company posted a profit of just $4.7 million, an 85 percent drop in earnings from the net income of $31 million for the first quarter of last year.
But what are we talking about? WaPo is a big example but there are many. Exceptions such as Bloomberg are different because, they are not supported by media. Bloomberg never was a media outlet, Bloomberg provides an information service to traders and technology – and charges ALOT for it. Central banks trade on Bloomberg Terminals. The news division is something they do in order to advertise their core business. This model is sustainable. WaPo, NYT and others, will likely not exist in the years ahead – in the best case they will *really* evolve into a different model.
The fact that the MSM missed the election to such a large degree was akin to a ‘nail in the coffin’ signaling the end of the MSM completely.
Independent blogs, resources, and other sites will be the center of a new online media ecosystem. Checkout one example – http://ift.tt/2fY9QmK
As a loyal ZH contributor, we’re happy to be a part of this shift.
We are often reminded of systems used in times past, as we will one day remember about the days of CNN and New York Times:
Visit our sponsor Please Order It.com
via http://ift.tt/2j5vgPK globalintelhub