Says Hugh Hewitt (author of BLOG):
It is hard to overstate the speed with which the information reformation is advancing — or to overestimate its impact on politics and culture. The mainstream media is a hollowed-out shell of its former self when it comes to influence, and when advertisers figure out who is reading the blogs, the old media is going to see their advertising base drain away, and not slowly. Other new aggregators are in the works, and the revenue flowing into new media will further strengthen and expand its reach.
Before long corporate America will be calling search firms to find candidates for new positions dealing exclusively with new media, and boards of directors, long used to consulting or recruiting from politics and the mainstream media, will be debating how to persuade Betsy Newmark or Stephen Bainbridge, LaShawn Barber, or Joe Carter to advise (or even join) their ranks.
It’s fun to be present at the revolution. And even more fun to be on the winning side. (Source)
I won’t editorialize this to death, but let me say one thing about the information revolution, a force that many people don’t comprehend, can’t see or won’t see. I’m on the inside looking out, and the view from here is spectacular.
Related: Blogger Nation and the entire Rathergate category.
The day 60 Minutes ran the infamous get-Bush episode (September 8, 2004), I blogged about the Boston Globe’s “expose.” The next day it was almost certain that 60 Minutes had tried to pass off forged documents as the real thing.
I didn’t do any original reporting; I was just a collector of links. Besides the usual big bloggers, several smaller bloggers had conducted independent investigations, and I wrote an article about them.
New media in action. And this blog is a lesson in niche-building.
Semi-related: Feedster’s Top 500 blogs list (LBC at #121).
Update: This story may be of interest to you. An order fulfillment company called iFulfill.com recently failed, and the owner blogged about it. His former clients and others believe his blog and overall mismanagement contributed to the business’s failure (read the irate comments). Here’s an example:
I feel bad for all the poor merchants that are reeling from this disastrous meltdown. I just hope no one goes bankrupt because of iFulfill. I am writing to actually thank Paul rather than curse him. Over a year ago he unceromoniously dumped us without any explanation other than not to have any more of our inventory shipped to their facility. I pleaded for an explanation but received none. Luckily I found eFulfillment Service and they have been nothing but superb! Our business has grown substantially largely because of eFulfillment’s ability to ship without incident. Paul thank you for forcing us to find another fulfillment house. Our business would not have been able to sustain a meltdown like yours.
Posted by: DK at August 11, 2005 06:51 PM
Update II: Information reformation-related article and pet peeve. An article called A ‘blogswarm’ stings old media into action (bypass reg. with BugMeNot) appears in the PI. Haven’t read it so I can’t comment on it, but for the record, the proper term is “blog swarm,” not “blogswarm.”
For background and related “blogstorm” pet peeve, see Update VI in this post. (It’s archive Thursday!)
