Traditional journalism’s reincarnation into the blogsophere

This article doesnt have much to do with my usual posts on brand strategy. However I feel like sharing, as it can give us bloggers something to think about.

Do you believe in Karma? This article from today’s Fastcompany (10/22/09) “Blogging Is Dead, Long Live Journalism” deals the fall of the bloggosphere and the rebirth of journalism.

It is nowadays possible to make a good living out of blogging with an average of $122,222 for full time engagement! This is a huge opportunity for small start-up journalists, as well as old, established journalists who suffered from the decline of traditional print media. Looking at these numbers it appears as if the scaringly inevitable force of globalization is finally reaching the blogosphere- the big ones get bigger, the small ones get smaller. If this consolidation continues, it seems as if we might soon have to redefine what blogging actually means. The medium risks loosing its essence.

So far it has been the hobby nature that made the medium so particular. However, in case in the future the primary interest will be of a financial nature, the medium risks becoming just as mainstream as traditional print media in order to attract the widest user base possible. Bigger bloggers might start to increasingly fight for our attention in order to receive more advertising dollars. And the big losers will be the everyday, hobby bloggers- those that so far gave the medium its fundament.

Our attention spans are shorter than ever and everybody prioritizes, following only a selected amount of blogs. There seems to be a significant danger that -over the long run- only the big blogs make it into our consideration set, while the smaller ones merely coexist. We could be the ones killing the traditional form of blogging.

On the other hand, its often talked about that the days of traditional journalism are coming to an end. And euthanasia of the medium should be the best solution. However, reading this article gives hope that there will be some kind of journalism Karma. Its spirit might just be reincarnated into a new medium- the blogosphere.

Francesco Wesel
Integrated Marketing Communication
www.francescowesel.com