As Fairfax (Dompost) and the NZ Herald “transform” themselves and their formats so that, in the words of the Dompost, they can “become more relevant” it is perhaps this comment from Vin Crosbie that they need to be taking head of, not re-formatting their sad offerings:
“The real problem, Mr. Newspaperman, isn’t that your content isn’t online or isn’t online with multimedia. It’s your content. Specifically, it’s what you report, which stories you publish, and how you publish them to people, who, by the way, have very different individual interests. The problem is the content you’re giving them, stupid; not the platform its on. But I digress.”
COntent is king and until media conglomerates start to recognise that the reason people don’t buy their papers or subscribe online is that the multitude of tastes that exist for news are not being met by a homogenised version of the truth through the lens of an editor.
The reason why blogs and online commentators are becoming more and more popular is precisely the opposite of the broad brush approach by media.
Niche is king. Niche is Good.
