I saw this New York Times (registration required) article today about Time Inc. the publishing division of Time Warner cutting 150 people – half in editorial jobs. The cuts are surprising as they include editorial talent. This could be considered a very bad sign but in reality the editors have to go because the company is streamlining how it reports on news.Instead of having several correspondents send files to a writer in New York and then having a fact-checking department, the stories will be researched, written and fact checked by one person.
Larry Hackett, managing editor of People, said the new reporting model would not preclude putting several correspondents on one piece when the news warrants it.
Why is this an interesting development? Because this is what many websites and bloggers do today. So really the web and bloggers have made it impossible for Time Inc. to continue doing business as usual. This is classic media disruption at its best.
The question becomes whether Time Magazine will err on the side speed or accuracy. Perhaps this model will allow the best of both worlds.
Recently I wrote about how bloggers are now being considered by federal courts as journalists. Well here is further reinforcement from the old media world that bloggers are using the formula that makes the most sense today.
I should point out there will likely be a loss of quality with this new system Time Inc. is implementing but it has become obvious consumers of content will forgo some quality for more rapid reporting.
To me the timing of this news couldn’t be anymore amazing as in the post mentioned above I had a paragraph which sums it all up.
This past weekend I was at a birthday party and one of my relatives was thanking another relative because he hooked her on the Perez Hilton blog. She continued “I don’t need to subscribe to People Magazine anymore.” Again, consumers decide what the form of news will be and speed wins.
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
Would it be fair to say with all the layoffs going on in the country and the US Dept of Labor coming out and saying that by the year 2010 = next year....THE LARGEST EMPLOYER WILL be SELF... Its time for us to plan accordingly... Your Future is in Your Hands...NOT your employers... YOU HAVE THE POWER to CHANGE YOUR RESULTS..