Freedom's Fidelity

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

The Rise of New Media

Well, a veritable 'Who's Who' in the blogger world are, as we speak, meeting in New York to discuss the launch of Open Source Media. (Formerly Pajamas Media where you can see many of the participants pictures and profiles.) The idea is to blend some of the free form commentary of blogging with traditional investigative journalism from around the world.

It's a whole new paradigm, and it's impossible to say what this may eventually evolve into. Frederich Hayek used to say that information is a valuable commodity, it's bought and sold, and he was right. But now there are no more gatekeepers of information, no more arguments from authority. Information flows so freely and the hurdles to enter the market are now so incredibly low - only requiring internet access - that information is nearly free.

I don't pretend to understand their business model, but there must be something to it as they have raised $3.5 million in venture capital.

An AP article says the following on Open Source Media:

OSM will link to individual blog postings and highlight the best contributions, chosen by OSM editors, in a special section. Bloggers will be paid undisclosed sums based on traffic they generate.
The ad-supported OSM site will also carry news feeds from Newstex, which in turn receives stories from The Associated Press, Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service and other traditional media organizations.

"We're deliberately trying to do something new by affiliating blog and mainstream people," said Roger L. Simon, a blogger and the venture's co-founder.

...Many details of OSM remain unsettled. For example, OSM wants to create a mechanism for citizen journalists, including bloggers, to submit original news during natural disasters, civil unrest and other newsworthy events. Simon said organizers still have to come up with ways to check submissions for accuracy.

Initially, OSM will create blog-like discussion panels surrounding major news events, with three or four bloggers and non-blogging experts chosen to contribute.

This is our first look at an organized money making effort of citizen journalists. Oh how I wish I was there!

Atlas Shrugged has some pictures of herself, Roger Simon, Glenn Reynolds, and the amazing Wretchard at dinner. One of her commenters remarked that she looked like a goddess amongst nerds, and it's funny because it is true. The non-elites, the average citizens are now the players and the audience. With the acceleration of technology and the relative young age of the internet it will be fascinating to see how this social/information network evolves.

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