(Recommendation: Watch the YouTube video below while reading the rest of this post, it makes my writing seem exponentially more epic and cool)

When we first introduced the concept of the News Graph about a month ago, we received a lot of excitement around the power of the concept and what it could mean moving forward as it is brought to life.  The Yadda Squad has been speaking with people involved in all aspects of the convergence of technology and media, from journalists to designers, and engineers to investors.  One topic of discussion that everyone seems to find interesting is comparing the areas of value creation in the old news and media industry model of the physical print world to the areas of value creation in today’s new media landscape.

SO – in order to effectively and successfully move forward in developing better business models for new and old media, I decided to boil down all of the conversations, and in one moment of clarity it became obvious that what it all comes down to is ACDC.  Yes, ACDC – but not the band. While I am sure Malcom and Angus Young most certainly have some solid insights regarding the future of news, I am talking about an acronym of the points of the news process that have been thunderstruck by the digital disruption: Access - Creation - Distribution - Consumption.

So let’s break these down,

1. Access – Not long ago, there was limited access for different parties to almost every aspect of the news creation and consumption process.  ”Press conferences”, believe it or not, were actually limited to the press  rather than events that are now streamed live and directly to people anywhere in the world with an internet connection, the appropriate hardware/software and no form of any sort of press pass.  The Internet is the new press pass.

2. Creation – Typewriters, old school computers and printing presses used to provide a huge barrier to entry into the news creation process – obviously this is no more.  From Tweets, to pins, to Blogger/Wordpress, and Facebook status updates, whether you like it or not (Mom), everyone can now be a publisher.

3. Distribution – Across the country, door steps which were once the symbol for personal news delivery are becoming paperless.  News stands are less prevalent, and trucks will become obsolete (eventually) in the process of delivery news and content.  While the game “Paperboy” may not be as relevant to our everyday lives, we are all now our own forms of new-age digital paper boys, as we share links to articles and videos to our friends, family and colleagues from our laptops and phones.  The atomic unit of the news, which was once a bundled part of a dead tree with box scores, puzzles, obits, op-eds, and daily reports, is now simply a string of characters hosted somewhere in the digital abyss.  And while an average link’s value in today’s attention economy will be fleeting, it’s life expectancy is forever with the potential to travel much farther and faster than any print publication.

4. Consumption – Reading the news used to be like an event.  We even had a designated day of the week, Sunday, in which we loaded people up with more news and bigger stories.  As access, creation and distribution have all seen supply side surpluses, our demand for news and content and our consumption habits have evolved along with these changes.  As consumers, we skim numerous headlines from our laptops, on our phones and have TV or video running at the same time in the background (well some of us).  We have little loyalty to any particular publishers, and while most claim to disdain information overload, many of us would be lost without  it.

So, as we begin to share more information about the News Graph in the coming months, we want to solicit as much feedback as possible from those involved in the future of news and media.  How do you see disruption and change in ACDC?  Do you have specific cases or data to share regarding trends or potential business models for the future? Whatever it is, please share and join in our ongoing news conversation on Pinyadda!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 at 2:28 pm and is filed under Publishers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.