Diseruption - The Future of Journalism

 
 

Since the late 90s we all knew the world would be changing. The internet had arrived and it was inevitable that traditional businesses would be disrupted by new technologies and business models. The first task was to get us all “on the internet” and in this endeavor companies rose and fell like empires. Now that we’re all there, on our smartphones, iPads, laptops, and desktops, the question has become, how will we use it?

Everywhere we look we see stories about newspapers dying, the fourth estate being crippled, and twitter saving the world. It is inevitable that the traditional model of operating a printing press, and having paperboys biking around neighborhoods cannot survive. However, there is no doubt that people still demand content, and will be consuming and interacting with “the news” more than ever. However, no increase in demand will solve the current lack of a sustainable business model that can answer the seemingly simple question: how do you pay people to create content and then get that content out to people who want it?

It’s a question plaguing the entire media industry, whether it’s music, television, film, or journalism. The revolution in social media and mobile technology makes us all believe there will be a great answer, but we still have not found it. There’s an indigestible amount of businesses trying to figure it out, and this blog is an attempt at working through some of the issues that are being raised in this debate.

I’m currently a MBA student at INSEAD, living between France and Singapore, that is consumed by this question specific to the news industry. My background isn’t in journalism...I was a currency trader in New York for nearly seven years. Spending every day depending on knowing what was going on, pretty much everywhere in the world, made me realize I was more fascinated with how I was getting the information than trading itself. I’m someone who has grown up as a consumer always seeking out the cutting edge, but without any preconceived notions of how the news business should be. Between classes, conversations, and research, I’m trying to learn as much as I can about this question and invite you to join me in this journey.  As many a journey goes, I have no idea what will be discovered and where it will end, but the future of journalism will look very different from where it is today, and I plan to be a part of this revolution.