Google’s One Pass creates an economically tenable future for quality journalism to scale (maybe)
Where do we go from here? Now that the traditional newspaper business model is on its way out, what’s next?
For the past couple years the precedent has been established that content is free online, and that if news is to remain a viable industry it must find a different source of revenue. This perspective has been widely accepted as all but fact. But it has also led us to an environment in which news is delivered socially, and quite often inaccurately.
But perhaps the pendulum is beginning to swing back.
Google’s One Pass is a very intriguing piece of software, which is likely the first of many. It offers a simple, user-driven method of publishing. This allows journalists to simply generate revenue directly through creating content, as opposed to through advertising.
More importantly, this may create a system through which well-researched and well-written stories are more lucrative than the alternative.
Is this (or a model like it) the future of journalism, in which the traditional tenets and values of journalism are again rewarded?
It’s tough to say as the technology is very new (released 2/16/11). But as we seek to educate our students for a world that will look different by the time they enter it, this is something to keep a firm eye on.
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