Writing in Editor & Publisher, Kevin J. Mireles advises the newspaper business to “make a conscious transition from being strictly content creators to become local communication facilitators.”
He argues that newspapers could benefit greatly by providing user-generated content that’s been screened by professional editors. By “benefit” he means increased revenue via advertising. The notion being that most marketers are frightened to invest in YouTube and MySpace because of the free-for-all nature of the sites. Hence, the continued need for the controlled environments of a newspaper.com.
Mireles also thinks users can benefit from this best of both worlds arrangement. He contends, perhaps correctly, that newspaper.com’s are easier to navigate due to repeated, if not daily, use.
