It has been obvious for some time that the Mainstream Media is not only worried about revenue and profit margins, it is also worried about online competition from some of the larger blogs which carry a degree of credibility when it comes to political and social commentary as well as sometimes displaying an investigative element in presentation of news items.The lure of money and wider readership has been used in the last couple of years to try and corral some well-known bloggers within the confines of 'old' media.
Now the MSM is casting its net wider and without the financial bait - it wants to invite certain websites to pay it for a credibility tick and an over the shouder policeman.
According to Mumbrella on 14 May 2009:
He also warns that the funding of the Press Council is "rapidly falling apart". This week, The Australian reported that its members were threatening to cut its budget by a third.
Kennedy suggests that a way to bridge the funding gap would be to invite news websites and other organisation to come under its remit.
He said: "For online publications, which don't have a high traffic flow, we could come up with a system similar to the Standards Association tick which is keenly sought by companies wanting to give their products credibility. We have 'street cred', built up over the past decade. For a fee, we could offer a Press Council tick, logo etc to online companies which subscribe to our principles and agree to be part of the complaints procedure. The selling attraction is that, as online news sites become more prevalent, they will be seeking some way to establish a point of difference between a credible site (Crikey.com.au, for example) and one drummed up in the garage of a bunch of anarchists."
If it wasn't so desperate a measure it would be funny.........
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