Newspapers Need to Reinvent Themselves as a 2.0 Platform

copyright Adage.com
by Steve Rubel
published: October 03, 2006


Michael Kinsley, writing in Time magazine, recently posed the big (and loaded) question: "Do Newspapers Have a Future?" Kinsley notes that papers are embracing blogging but he worries they are doing so at the risk of sacrificing speed over accuracy.

Don't let Kinsley fool you. Blogging is an important step for newspapers. It has unshackled journalists from the staid, unidirectional delivery of facts to a model where they co-author the news with readers in real time. But let's not lose site that blogging is the first phase in a gradual evolution. To thrive in the future, the newspaper will need to use the web to turn itself into a 2.0 platform where readers and advertisers working together (not journalists) create most of the value.

At its heart, this is what "Web 2.0" is really about. The sites that are growing the fastest are destinations where individuals connect, collaborate and create something that benefits everyone. The powers-that-be largely stay out of the way, but help the crowd harness its inner power.

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