Tech & Biz

2009: Year of the Shadow Media

by mtippett | January 6, 2009 at 03:49 pm

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Kirk Lapointe, Managing Editor of the Vancouver Sun pointed me to something interesting today.

Several weeks ago, BusinessWeek columnist Jon Fine shared a term in one of his predictions for 2009 that was intriguing because of how it describes a growing phenomenon in media today … the rise of the shadow media. The shadow media are the professional journalists, writers, editors and thought leaders who have been displaced either by choice or necessity as part of the upheaval that traditional media has been going through over the past few years. While before, these content creators may have just moved to a new role within traditional media (as Josh Quittner did when Business2.0 magazine folded) - but today more and more they are branching out on their own.

But what the shadow media needs is to be connected to people on the scene, a volunteer army of people who are at the right (or wrong) place at the right time. Whether they are twitterers in Gaza or Flirkr users in Manhatten, the shadow media could build a network of news gathering and editorial professionals that could rival or overtake their former employers. ...An interesting idea.

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Uwe Paschen

at 17:29 on January 6th, 2009

I do agree with that and I do believe that the shadow media does have a future and may very well be the future. The main problem as the recent crisis shows is accuracy and accountability of the so called shadow media. Why we have Editors and researchers as well as on the ground well trained Reporters that can spot or distinguish true from propaganda or at least know what to look for and try to stay neutral with in the interest or truth.