Journalism and the (Inexistent) Magic Bullet Business Model
Follow the money.
Sometimes it’s the best way to understand what’s happening since the money has a so huge role and importance in our society.
Follow the money is, of course, a good prescription for journalists.
It’s also a famous line spoken by Deep Throat (Hal Holbrook) in the film All the President’s Men. The actual Deep Throat — the film is based on the true story of about the Watergate scandal — apparently never said exactly that sentence. But it’s perfect for a movie.
Follow the money is a prescription I wrote in one of Slow Journalism’s chapter I personally wrote. I used it to understand what happened in journalism landscape from the beginning of the so-called digital revolution in the last 20 years (at least in western countries).
The simpler version of a long story is: newspapers are struggling against a deep crisis. The old business model has gone with the oligopoly of production and distribution of news.
The old business money means:
- selling of hardcopies
- subscriptions
- advertising
- other revenue streams (announcements, obituaries, judicial auction publications)
