Shane Richmond of the Telegraph.co.uk received an email titled “Google Fast Flip has saved newspapers. Happy now, bitches?” and I have yet to stop chuckling.
It is very colorful, so when you go over to the Telegraph, keep that in mind. Suffice it to say that FES goes off the rails [oh, while I'm writing this, I am hearing an advertisement on Pandora, my first in the several dozen hours I've listen to Pandora] about how the newspaper industry is always complaining about the Internet killing the business.
Well, it does, but mainly the business model. You have to redefine to compete. Sorry, that is just how it works in a capitalist economy. It undoubtedly spurs innovation and efficiency. So, get on it. Equilibrium will be found, be it higher priced advertising across the board, or lower wages.
Check out the Shane Richmond blog entry at the Telegraph.co.uk, oh, and if you guys put up a pay wall to try to monetize your stories, you simply won’t get an in-links. Yep, the story will still be told, but people will leave off where they got it because it is too much of a pain in the butt to sign up, subscribe, still get advertisements [because there is no way in hell you can survive off of subscription rates], and then get the story. It just won’t happen. Do it, and you’ll see any traffic to your site fall off like a lawn dart. [Anyone remember those?]