Websites That Complement Their Paper Cousins
from the look-how-easy-that-is dept
It looks like some magazine publishers are just barely starting to figure out how this web thing works. Rather than simply seeing it as another distribution channel for the same content, they’re starting to look for ways that the web is different and provides unique advantages. Witness the example of People Magazine, which is apparently having its staff of writers focus on breaking celebrity news online, while saving the more detailed writeups for the magazine. This is, certainly, a step forward. Many other magazines have realized similar things (many before People, so they don’t necessarily deserve too much credit for innovation here). However, the real value of the internet is how it eases interaction. It’s not just a “broadcast” medium, but an interactive one. That’s where magazines (and, yes, newspapers) really have the opportunity to leverage what the web lets them do, beyond just repurposing content. Unfortunately, it looks like we’re still pretty far away from many publications realizing this shift.
Comments on “Websites That Complement Their Paper Cousins”
The Power of Ignorance
I was at a research meeting today, and we looked at survival time data. This was actual data obtained from confidential medical records, no hidden agenda, no spin. The average man who sees his doctor for a heart problem has a 75% chance of dying within 5 years of his first visit.
Media organizations don’t usually report statistics like this, because then average joes would become afraid of going to the doctor.
If anyone can become their own news source, it does create problems for some kinds of medical research, since the ignorant masses would misinterpret it.