Rise of the Machines

• Posted by Chris Selland
• on October 21st, 2009

Fascinating article today from Peter Kafka on Demand Media and the value of old vs. new media.

In essence, Kafka asserts that the traditional model for content creation, which “revolves around well-paid professionals who rely on their experience and judgment” and is practiced by old-media types such as the New York Times ($NYT) and Washington Post ($WPO) is dead, and the model “where a computer spits out assignments to day laborers who work furiously for low pay” is rapidly replacing it.

If Kafka is correct (and I firmly believe he is) this is terrible news for not just old media, but ‘new’ media which relies on this ‘old’ content-creation model as well (such as $NWS & $TSCM).

But it’s great news for $GOOG & $BIDU (and perhaps, if they can get their acts together, $YHOO & $MSFT as well).

What do you think?  Are journalists about to be offshored and outsourced?  Has it happened already?

And what does this mean for the future of search and online advertising?

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