The same arguments persist, and with it we keep going round in the same archaic circles. Just when will we realise it’s the content that’s king, not the means by which it’s told?

The web is not the enemy. Blogs are not the enemy.  Smart phones are not the enemy. It’s not a war and it’s not something that needs fighting.

Unfortunately, that’s not what most mainstream media corporations are saying, or have us believe.  Except those who realise there’s no fight to be had here.

For me, it’s the content that’s king. It always has been and always will be.  How people discover, read or enjoy something doesn’t really matter.

Whether someone consumes information in a newspaper, on radio, tv, magazine, blog, twitter feed, smartphone – or any other form really isn’t an issue.

If anything, it’s great to be able to tell stories and convey information in a variety of ways. Not limited to words or images; not just stills or moving pictures and sound.

However, comments persistently crop up; ‘bloggers couldn’t do that’, as if there’s an illegitimacy to there work. Or similarly, ‘the web wouldn’t handle this with the same authority’.

One man in a room with no access to contacts or means to fund their work couldn’t do anything. Whether they were a blogger or a renowned journalist.

It’s not the means of publication that should be questioned; it’s what is published and the knowledge and authority of the person publishing.

Whether they’re publishing to newspapers, tv, radio or the web really isn’t an issue. It should simply be the fact the information is being made available.

As I’ve previously mentioned, the only problem for digital content is raising revenue to fund it. At present, other media forms have financed themselves but only small pockets of self-funding ‘news’ websites have established themselves.

Old funding models don’t work. While something eventually will, in the meantime we wait.

But while we wait, the argument should really be moved on. If I guarantee one thing, websites and blogs aren’t going anywhere. As for newspapers, while I not saying they’ll disappear, their future isn’t so certain.

Posted on July 13th, 2009 in Blog