An interesting article ran in the New York Times this week entitled "News Trends Tilt Toward Niche Sites." The premise follows that Internet giants like AOL and Yahoo have discovered beat-specific news targeted to specific segments is more successful online than general-interest news items. Well, duh?
At first glance, one may assume this is another example of Chris Anderson's Long Tail theory. Smaller audiences for sites like College Humor and Gawker have proven more influential than mass audiences for, say, AOL's homepage.
What the article fails to address is that perhaps people simply don't consider AOL and Yahoo trusted "news sources." MSNBC.com or, ironically, the NYTimes.com have rightlyfully earned their real estate.
It also disregards the fact that mass media, itself, is not without niches. Rarely does traditional media succeed when attempting to be all things to all people. Charlie Rose is a far cry from the View. The target audiences and tastes maybe more subtle, but are, no doubt, present.
New media's belief that they are constantly reinventing the wheel is self-serving and a bit tiresome. It's surprising that the New York Times, of all places, as bought into the hype.
There were literally hundreds of newspapers across the country at the turn of the century (19th not 20th!), each with their own spin and demographic. Maybe the debate is more about distribution and less about content.
A good story is a good story. Plain and simple.
"News Trends Tilt Toward Niche Sites:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/12/business/media/news-consumption-tilts-toward-niche-sites.html
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