Showing posts with label Money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Money. Show all posts

August 27, 2009

Smaller. Faster. Smarter.

Anyone familiar with online trends knows the formula for many sites is something along the lines of:

Site becomes popular.
Giant corporation buys popular site.
Giant corp tries to monetize site.
People run away and make new site popular. (See: MySpace, Napster)

With the news that Rupert Murdoch will soon begin charging for online content published by his media conglomerate, one has to wonder, what's the future of online news?

Nic Brisbourne, of PaidContent.org, has some really interesting ideas on where the online news game is heading.

He argues that with so many news outlets available online, once one source starts charging for content the masses will migrate to another site. Headlines are headlines, no matter the site you get them from.

But abundances create scarcities.

According to Brisbourne, the scarcities in online news are "...interesting stories, thought provoking analysis, conversation and community, and trust/verification."

He expands on that by adding:

"Interesting stories go beyond simple reporting of what has occurred, bringing in relevant context and staying with a topic as it unfolds. Thought provoking analysis will dare to shock, and to be wrong. Conversation and community will both make the experience richer for the active participant and improve the quality of the content on the site for more casual reader. Trust and verification will make you go back to one site rather than another as you know the stories there will be more accurate (note breaking news should be published first and verified second, with appropriate caveats)."

The companies who follow this model won't necessarily have to charge for content. Just keep overhead to a minimum and "leverag(e) (their) position in the community to offer services no one else can."

Full article here.
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April 1, 2009

Just like yesterday.

Artist: The Who
Song: Won't Get Fooled Again

And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they all flown in the last war

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
No, no!

I'll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
For I know that the hypnotized never lie

Do ya?

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

There's nothing in the street
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now the parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again
No, no!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss
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March 13, 2009

Cramer admits to "shenanigans" but refuses to handover pot o' gold.

I hate to write two Daily Show posts in a row but this story has been impossible to ignore. At current count, Google news has 1,400+ stories under the "Jon Stewart/Jim Cramer" heading. And it's still going.

Arianna Huffington, herself, made a post today where she wondered aloud about how CNN's John King interview of Dick Cheney would have gone differently if it would have been Jon Stewart asking the questions instead of John King.

Stewart's interview with the Mad Money host has been labeled at scathing attack on a honest and well intentioned man. But these critics missed the point of the interview. Stewart made it very clear that his attacks weren't aimed specifically at Cramer. Cramer just happened to be the one who stepped into the crosshairs.

This whole argument boils down to what role you think the news media should play in our lives.

Watchdog or Jester? Information or Entertainment? Bill Buckley or Billy Bush?

During the interview, Stewart challenged Cramer's network, "CNBC could be an incredibly powerful tool of illumination."

But instead of commending CNBC, Jon repeatedly rebuked the financial network. Even accusing of Cramer and others at CNBC of knowing that the "real" stock market is traded in a "backroom" and that these deals are "fast," "dangerous," "ethically dubious," and ultimately this secretive trading "hurts (the) long term market."

Heavy accusations but Cramer only answered with shrugged shoulders and meek apologies. Which was a recurring theme of the interview.

Too often today, intelligent conversation and insight are being traded for gimmicks and pandering. That's why we get journalists like Jim Cramer and Sean Hannity, and have to look to comedians for our news.

Personally, I hope the mass media wakes up and joins the emerging new-media companies that are bringing real journalism back to the table. Current TV's Vanguard series and The Real News Network are two that spring to mind. I believe, an informed and empowered American public is key to turning our country's fortunes around. If it takes dick and fart jokes to get people interested in politics again, so be it.

Here's the uncut interview. Salty language and everything.


Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:
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March 6, 2009

Walk it off.

Like the gift that never starts giving, these bailouts are being touted as the only medicine for out ailing financial systems but we seem to have been misprescribed.

The DOW hasn't recovered. The job market hasn't rebounded.

Same shit. Same storm.

To make matters worse, our financial leaders might not just be incompetent but corrupt as well. You're astonished, I'm sure.

Joe Nocera, a columnist for the NY Times, wrote a great piece on the continuing AIG bailout. Nocera came on 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart' last Thursday to discuss his article and A.I.G.'s recent $30 billion prize from the Federal Reserve Raffle.

Nocera and Jon Stewart do a great job of giving the audience a soberingly simple view of the A.I.G. scam (his words, not mine).


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