An unintentionally hilarious analysis of the failings of Old Media buries in its last paragraph the serious caveat that, for New Media, “coming up with revenue models continues to be difficult.” And nowhere is it explained that all those much lauded New Media chops — “curation,” linking, aggregation — require … um, something to “curate,” link to, and aggregate in the first place.
C.W. Anderson, Clay Shirky, and other credulous New Media triumphalists may tout “the digital-media ecosystem” and disparage “the idea that traditional journalism had to consist only of reporting original news.” But they ignore the inescapable reality that “curating,” linking, and aggregation are not the original reporting upon which they so desperately depend.