Excellent Article on the Future of (Print) Media - Winners & Losers

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/d0ea7202-01ec-11db-a141-0000779e2340.html

Requires subscription I think.

The article suggests that there is indeed a bright future for print and other media - but only for those that adapt - largely via the ability to create a differentiated product and adopting technology trends. For print media this may mean either serving niche needs such as trade presses, or becomming better aggregators, or better filters for customization.

It suggests that the phenomenon of "free content" on the Net applies only to commodity content and that people still pay for differentiated content - as in the case of digital radio, mobile texts and pay television.

It also paints a picture of a consolidated industry structure with local information collectors, larger aggregators, niche providers and other such roles which all feed into a common market.

The one area where I disagree with the piece is that it predicts the dominance of "National Brands" - whereas I believe that the internet blurs national boundaries both sociologically and commercially. So the brands that dominate will be global, not national brands and those that dominate global segments and interest groups.