Tom Altman’s Wedia Conversation

This is a great article on Jeff Jarvis’s site about WWGD (what would google do) if they were competing against itself.

So how should we compete with Google or at least challenge its monopoly? Openness. I’ve argued for sometime that we need an open-source ad infrastructure. If the rest of the world other than Google — that is, those who have the other half of advertising Google doesn’t yet have — can gather together and create standards…

Sounds like a win-win…build something we (media) all need - an ad network;  and then do what we do…share the wonderful content we own.

Easy - right?    :)

Jeff Jarvis is just hitting on all cylinders all the time!

His post today nails a point I know we’ve been talking about at the company I work for around the idea of “networked journalism” and building data repositories in a easy to use manner.

“Among the tools for networked journalism I’m wishing for is a simple one for creating collaborative data bases.”

and also this comment

“Here’s another one I want: When a reporter, pro or am, uses a camera phone to take a picture — or, for that matter, to upload text, video, audio, anything — wouldn’t it be wonderful to attach the data the device knows: time and date, of course, and also GPS. This then allows gangs of reporters to submit information that can be plotted on maps and timelines and then associated with other data.”

I just really like where this guy stands in terms of  “getting the job done”.

I found an interesting blog post by Jeff Jarvis from Aug. of 2005 this morning called “Who wants to own content?” (If you’re not familiar with Jeff, he writes a blog called Buzz Machine which focuses on media and news)

In this model, newspapers have a problem: They want to control information and the means of sharing rather than enabling that sharing.

…

It’s hard for someone raised on the value of owning content and owning distribution to let go of exclusivity and instead value openness and participation.

EDITED:
I found a great comment at the end of the article by “DAR” that said:

You make it sound as if all they (old media) need to do is adapt to change and they will survive, and that they’re fools not to see that. But I think that’s not true at all - adapting won’t solve their problem. Their existing business model is ending and even the new business models won’t replace it. And THAT is what they’re scared of.

I work for a newspaper organization now - and this is very hard to grasp, because the model has been so much like this for so long. We’re working on innovating our business model and it is hard enough getting people to grasp the fact of separating content and production - I wonder what they will think of this? I wonder what they will say when I tell them it came out two years ago? :0