When I was a pup, sometime after everyone was wearing fedora hats and the world was black and white, if you went on the subway you saw people with their faces buried in newspapers. Go on the NYC subway today or a bus in Chattanooga and you won’t see a paper — but you will see ear buds. Everywhere. They’re attached to phones, MP3 players and iPods and they are pumping out music.
Earbuds are the new paper. Digital (music), the new media. I’ve been writing Cablevision and Newsday (local Long Island businesses) trying to get them to see that if they marry the earbud with news and entertainment they will take a giant step ahead in the business of news delivery. (They aren’t really taking my call.) You see, making podcasts easy and fast is a major opportunity for original content providers. It therefore is a major opportunity for journalism and news organizations. Someone will win here, I’d love it to be Newsday. Peace!
