Yesterday I received a letter from The Wall Street Journal. It was an offer to renew my subscription that I had let lapse a couple of years ago. I didn’t renew my subscription for a couple of reasons. First, there was very little interactivity with the Journal. Sure, they have a web site, but they wanted $69 more for me to join. That brings me to the second reason. I found very little in the Journal that I couldn’t find for free elsewhere on the web. Don’t get me wrong. I like and respect the Journal as a news source. There is not enough time to read everything.
So, the letter came yesterday to announce that now I can subscribe to the Journal for $99, a 77% discount and that includes free access to WSJ.com. Wow! It sounds like they are desperate for readers.
Most traditional media companies take a tactical approach when thinking about the rapid changes that are occurring. Most media companies today are looking outward trying to figure out how to find new technologies, like podcasts or blogs, which can be bolted on to their current media products, acting defensively to protect their current business model.
Unfortunately, the marketplace is too dynamic for such a tactical approach. These times demand that media companies rethink their core values, being medium agnostic and focusing on strategically shifting their business models. Media companies must recognize that their mission is to facilitate a dialogue for their community members including readers, advertisers and retailers. In essence, setting a community table where all members of a community are invited to participate in the dialogue.
It is in these relationships where real value lies. With a community, co-creative perspective it matters not in what form the dialogue appears or in what direction the information flows.
In a world were there are too many sources of media all of us, as consumers, deeply desire a trusted editor that can make sense of the changing world and deliver the information we need to be a part of a community in a form that we want whether that be a magazine, website, blog, podcast, or vblog delivered via cell phone. The big question is: how can traditional media companies shift their paradigm to become a community facilitator?
When the Wall Street Journal reinvents itself and invites me to their community table and wants me to participate, as a reader, in the evolution of the dialogue about the business community, I’ll be excited to resubscribe. Unfortunately, until then, I’m too busy interacting in other community dialogues that are much more engaging.
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