OPEN

Kim
Fletcher wrote a piece in Monday’s Guardian Media  supplement reflecting attitudes in UK
newsrooms to their papers’ integration with online media:

The Daily Telegraph has become obsessed with podcasts and
weblogs; the Mail, Mirror and News International have been buying up internet
companies; the Guardian has unveiled plans for greater integration between its
paper and its web activities. Everyone is looking at US newspapers, such as the
New York Times, working out the best way to run all publishing activities in
one place.

He
gives a good insight into some of the challenges that newspapers face in making
the most of the Web, and some of the concerns felt by journalists, but what
caught my eye was his optimistic appraisal of the opportunity for professionals
to find a prominent place in the connected media
world:

There is a bigger audience for pieces by professional
journalists than for amateur work because, for the most part, it is better. By
maintaining high standards, journalists will ensure their work continues to
stand out on the web.

He’s
right. In the market for attention, quality will out, it will
win readers – the best content will flow
through the networks of connected media, professional and personal.

How
to make money out of that, as Mr Fletcher concedes, is another matter. But
where there’s crowd there’s a market, and the market will find a way.