The good news is that publishers and software developers are teaming up to deliver timely articles of your choosing to your virtual doorstep — and you don’t even have to tip the delivery boy.
And so opens this article from Wired News posted two days ago.
Newsreaders pull headlines from a variety of bloggers and news sources and allow consumers to create their own ‘paper’. Newsreaders are available without cost and they access websites such as BBC, CNN, News Limited and ESPN which provide content without cost. Once you select an article of interest you are taken to the site for the story.
Newsreader software is available for hand held devices making up to date news accessible on the road.
The road between story conception and the consumer is changing.
Mark,
I feel compelled to comment, being a newsagent, member of the media, and media trainer and advisor.
You have identified the changing nature of media correctly by saying the road between conception and consumer is changing. Media is the flow of information from source to stakeholders and that is where the changes are happening. Blogging and webcasting are fast becoming vehicles for this evolution. With this evolution comes many opportunities and I read with much enthusiasm on this and the yahoo newsagent group your grasp of where it will go and the impact it will have on newsagents. But the filter you have to put into this equation is whether it is tangible or the intangible. What blogging can achieve is the control of that flow of information from source to stakeholder. It is now being used to develop newsletters for the likes of business and government departments so their message does not have to go through “traditional†media. We can now hit between the eyes those most effected by our message without it being tainted by the media, or some of the expense. We are now able to influence the thinking of consumers directly and that is what the use or strength of media is. That is also the strength of blogging, webcasting, e-zines and newsletters. But like any use of Internet, it is intangible. Interesting that you identified Blogging Kiosks for newsagents, it is worth a thought, but means a paradigm change for consumers in how they perceive what a newsagent offers. Our business partners in News ltd and Fairfax are fast developing ways of exploiting their strength of tangibility which we as newsagents have to cope with as well. In time to come we will see more inserts that go beyond catalogues and bonus mags; it is only a matter of time before we see sample products as part of a newspaper and opportunities to deliver certain inserts as competitors to our newly found foes Australia post. It is a fascinating time as blogging develops, and I can only see opportunities for all concerned, including newsagents. Newsagents will be able focus on exploiting their tangible strengths and blogging will mean media will exploit their ability to get their message straight to the stakeholder.
Keep up the great work Mark.
Kevin Mulcahy
Blackwood Territorial Newsagency
Media Training Centre
Mulcahy Media and Marketing
Mix102.3