@Beyond the Printed Word: The rise of the ‘prosumer’
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 8 November 2007 at 13:24
Tags: Ifra, Journalism, World Digital Publishing Conference
Press Gazette is at Ifra’s World Digital Publishing Conference, “Beyond the Printed Word” in Dublin. Some quick notes from this morning’s session:
The future of media
The traditional media will probably survive in a very different type of constellation,” says Prof Dr Jo Groebel, director of the German Digital Institute. Some highlights from his talk:
- The age of uni-media focus is over, especially among the young. People want all type of content on all different platforms. The will key quesion for media companies in the future is will consumers be able to receive essentially the same content on all types of devices? This means mobile, in particular.
- Technology is no replacement for creative talent, which remains rare, but the sheer numbers of people producing user generated content means that a lot of high-quality material will be created. The key professional challenge for established media is to identify the talented UGC creators and integrate them into professionally-produced products.
- Contrary to the widely-held beliefs of journaliists (and expressed repeatedly earlier this week at the Society of Editors conference), consumers do not trust professionally-produced news more than other material on the web. In fact, research shows that they trust it less because they assume professional communicators, including journalists, have an agenda. Community is the most trusted source of infomraiton among young consumers.
- Groebel closes by pointing out that the mobile space is where people are willing to pay for digital content. He says mobile television news might well be a competitor too. He gives the example of Germany’s leading news bulletin, Tagesshau.de, which is now available as a continuously-updated 100-second show, specially edited for mobile with large graphics and tight shots. Sounds a lot like ITN’s continuous mobile news bulletin.
