Newspapers out of control

By Kristoffer Bohmann, Bohmann Usability

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World Radar recently launched a news service that provides overview of most news stories published in all larger Danish newspapers. So far, the response from the established news industry has been very negative. Editors-in-chief from leading newspapers even accused the new service of being a parasite and thief (in Danish) because they take content without giving anything back.

I agree on this viewpoint but find it less relevant to the news industry. The thing to worry (or get excited) about is that news distribution sites such as World Radar are making it possible for news readers to go to one source to find the stories they want, while ignoring other stories. This is the way to manage your attention in an information-abundant world (without violating copyrights!). The likely result is a deep change in the way news is produced and consumed. Newspapers can no longer control the way (links to) their stories are distributed.

I predict that todays leading newspapers will be reduced to insignificant players in the Danish news industry by 2003 if they fail to respond effectively to this disruptive technological change. The time horizon may even be shorter due to the fast performance improvements in online search and personalization technologies. Impatient online news readers don't want to read 20 stories to get the three stories they want -- when they can get the three stories in a few clicks.

My advice to the established news industry is to read The Innovator's Dilemma by Harvard-professor Clayton M. Christensen (online review). Christensen reports how leading companies in the disk drive industry were wiped out by attacking firms because they failed to understand and respond to radically new technologies and (therefore!) competitive circumstances.

Kristoffer Bohmann

Newspapers out of control

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