The art and value of the essay
NEWS IS A COMMODITY
We just realized something. One of those “no duh” moments.
If you are on a News site and there is a link to an article like “Tens of Thousands Protest in Moscow” and it has a little padlock symbol next to it meaning that it is for subscribers only, it is not a big deal. You can just type “thousands protest moscow” into a search engine and find out what is going on.
If, however, the story under lock and key is called something provocative like “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior” or “Why French Parents are Superior”, well, then you would be screwed. (*)
If you are going to make money selling access to content on the web, you need to offer things that can’t be found elsewhere.
To all those who excel in the art of the essay, this is your era.
(*) Yes, those article are free to view online, but suppose they weren’t. I admit that maybe I find the titles more interesting than you do, but I’m thinking about my three year old all day.
Photo credit:http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristiand/3223920178/
