The Times, They are A-Changin

This past week PBS aired a wonderful documentary by Martin Scorsese about Bob Dylan…but I just threw that in as a hip (in a 60s sort of way) cultural/historical touchstone. The title of this blog refers to the venerable New York Times, who announced that they are cutting some 500 positions (45 from the newsroom) in order to reduce costs. The decision comes on top of 200 jobs cut earlier this year. On the same day, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News announced plans to eliminate 100 newsroom positions citing challenges “with slow-growing advertising and a long-term decline in circulation amid changing media habits as more people go to the Internet for news.” But newspapers are not the only “old media” feeling the heat. Since moving from a scarcity (pages/spectrum) model to a surplus (bits) model, media are undergoing radical shifts in their ability to package, promote and charge for their content. The rise of consumer generated media and peer-to-peer sharing of everything from music to TV programs and movies has executives from Hollywood to Madison Avenue scratching their heads and reexamining their business models. Perhaps the most striking change is the advertising industry’s realization that they, like the Emperor of old, are parading down main street with little to cover their backsides.

Media content is just another form of information, and information is power. Perhaps you remember the early days of the Internet, and if so you might also remember a t-shirt slogan that said, “Information Wants to be Free!” Of course it does, but media executives are doing their best to ensure that it won’t get its wish. Time will tell who’s winning this war.