Around the Net
Column: Consumers Won't Stop Using Old Media
- Fortune, Monday, April 10, 2006 11 AM
New media companies like Google seem to be more excited about the prospects for traditional media than the old media firms themselves, says David Kirkpatrick of Fortune. While newspaper execs worry Craigslist and co. could spell doom for their industry, TV people are frightened by the blistering pace of broadband TV's evolution. In fact, executives at these old media firms seem altogether more enthused about the potential impact of the Internet on their business rather than the future of their core businesses themselves, Kirkpatrick says. People won't just stop reading newspapers or magazines or channel surfing. In the end, those firms that are able to leverage a strong brand will succeed in the future. Being accessible to consumers across a range of media platforms will be a prerequisite for competing in "Web 2.0," as the second coming of the Internet has been called, but those that survive will do so on the back of a strong product and a strong brand presence.
