Jay Rosen of NYU: iPad is "Magical Thinking" for Old Media

Very engaging interview with NYU Journalism Professor Jay Rosen by the Economist.

He considers the buzz within the media industry regarding the iPad to be an example of "Magical Thinking" by media companies, where their business models are broken and they're looking for a new device, some new technology, ANYTHING that can save them.

He notes that the two most valuable assets of big media companies such as the New York Times are their brand and their readers, and that in the coming iPad era, finding ways to leverage the value of those two key items will be most important to their survival, not sitting and hoping that a single device will save them.

I concur, except that I see the iPad as a platform through which these media companies can find new ways to leverage those assets, if they're willing to engage in a little innovative thinking.

It's clear to me that even if it can't save the most stubborn print media, the iPad will certainly be a significant boon for the advertising industry, opening up a whole new channel for larger-scale digital creative, replacing fees and commissions that have been shrinking as the print industry implodes.


Sorry there's no way to embed the video directly, so click the picture for a link to economist.com, and go to the bottom of the page (or you may have to search for it if you're reading this post more than a few days after it was published).

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