Disintermediation: Opportunity & Analysis

"The Media should charge for content," so sayeth pundits about news sites.

Should is such an interesting verb that stretches from mandate to polite suggestion. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary offers (in order): to express condition, obligation, futurity, what is probable or expected, and finally, to "express a request in a polite manner." The pundits no doubt are more than suggesting, and are obliging that the media must charge for content.

Really, I would venture that media companies are not actually adverse to charging for content, but since most haven't since their initial foray onto the web, can't figure out how to do so without committing suicide. (At the recent min summit, Forbes.com CEO Jim Spanfeller was urging his fellow publishers to lock up their content behind a paywall!) Despite that, Rupert Murdoch is said to be establishing a strategic team to figure out how he can charge for his print properties. And The New York Times is toying with a few different ideas. Of the two mentioned (metering content consumption and charging for overage vs. creating a membership community) I am partial to the community idea which is the model used by museums.

My friend Michael Chwastiak sent me a link to Jason Pontin's prescription for saving publishers. I have read and re-read his (long) missive several times to cull the best points: you can charge for content that is uniquely intelligent and editors, nay, publishers, need to re-examine the needs of the audience. As I have written before, editors forget that as one generation passes the next generation may not have the same values and needs. Indeed, one fundamental change that has occurred is disintermediation. As readers can freely communicate with each other and vendors -- the role of media as gatekeeper has diminished from its historical role. But that does not mean the role of journalist/editor has ceased to be important.

Rather the role has evolved to be more of an analyst than merely story teller. With hundreds of comments and opinions at the ready, the new value is in interpreting that data. Synthesizing the thoughts of bloggers and commenters into content "reports" would provide more value than merely regurgitating another wire story.

This is the monetizable model that works for business intelligence companies and this is a model that should work for many media companies.