Ever tried to put a genie back in the bottle?
Earlier this week, Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP, chided newspaper proprietors for leaving so much cash on the table.
From a Reuters report:
One area where traditional media, especially newspapers, have fallen down is in giving too much content away on the Internet, he said.He said it was “very strange” and “bizarre” that so much content is available for free. “I think people would pay for content they value and trust,” he said.“I’m prepared to pay for breaking news,” he said.
Don’t do that. You will just encourage them.
The truth is people have become accustomed to free content online and that particular current is irresistible. As for breaking news, nobody buys newspapers for breaking news. They go online or they switch on their televisions – where increasingly, people find their news stories sourced from citizen journalists.
Take the London bombings. If it all happened again tomorrow, would you pay a news site for updates, switch on the BBC or turn to Wikipedia?
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