Persona-comments-Jeff Vander Clute community platform technologist

Source: Email received April 19, 1011

ITA comprehensive proposal to evolving entire journalism system

Very comprehensive--exhaustive even. This is outstanding work.

Densmore argues effectively that the shift from the Information Economy to the Attention Economy is an inversion so fundamental that the entire system of journalism from publisher to user is being reinvented. The challenge for journalistic organizations is that the overwhelming abundance of both information and entities (as well as types of entities) that have relationships with the user means less value per unit of content or traditional advertising and less pricing power. The opportunity for these organizations must therefore be very, very different from past business models, and in practically every way. The proposed Information Trust Association, rooted in what must now be seen as a pressing need for whole-systems collaboration, is the first comprehensive proposal for evolving the entire system of journalism, and as such it deserves our serious attention.

The key aha moment for me is the hourglass vs. the cylinder. There are no gates or choke points now. How does one run a toll bridge when there are 100 ways to efficiently get from one side to the other, including teleportation? (You can quote me on that.)

Jeff Vander Clute Bainbridge Island, Wash. jvanderclute@gmail.com