Webwork - 9:27 pm on Dec 12, 2004 (gmt 0)

News is a medium for selling advertising.

When I heard a newsman offer that interpretation of 'the business' it recontextualized my view of 'the news'.

A news corporation is about serving the advertisers and showing them a ROI. For most news outlets/channels the chemistry of life is simple: 'No advertisers = No news source'.

So much for my interpretation of the noble art of the newsman. And to think: I started college as a journalism major ;0(

The medium that serves the advertisers a better ROI wins. That, in part, explains Rupert's (temporary) success. He's taken 'news' to its logical next step for the bored, feckless, angry, etc. couchbound radiorapt masses: Newstertainment.

We'll all go along with the blurring of the lines for awhile but eventually (one can only hope) we'll long for some meat to be served with our potato flakes. The tired, depressed, overwhelmed and underpaid masses will continue to consume newslite but their purchasing power will define the advertising opportunity and industry income. In newslite it's a rush to the bottom. At a certain level of success newslite either has to cause brain damage or only have appeal to those who already suffer from it. Perhaps at some point the NIH, FDA or NSA will weigh in and outlaw newslite. (On the otherhand, it does serve as an opiate for the masses so I may be entirely wrong about what the powers-that-be will support.)

Local newspapers are DOA but don't know it yet. City papers will last a bit longer, but they'll evolve. Holding onto a newspaper will be a comfort, a habit thing for an aging demographic.

This too shall pass.

It's all about ROI for advertisers. Show them results and say good-bye to the less efficient medium. At a certain point the inefficiencies of local print media will yield a low enough ROI for all that local print media will wither and die.

[edited by: Webwork at 9:45 pm (utc) on Dec. 12, 2004]