How does DAP fit into the sea change taking place across journalism?
There is a memorable scene in Mel Gibson’s most recent movie Dragged Across Concrete where his Chief Lieutenant suspends him not because of his heavy handed actions per se but because the cop was videod by a civilian and this content was shared on social media and then published by the media.
Being branded a racist in today’s public forum is like being accused of communism in the 50s. Whether its a possibly offensive remark made in a private phone call or the indelicate treatment of a minority who sells drugs to children the entertainment industry — formerly known as the “News” — aids villains.
Vince Vauhn his beat partner responds,
There is certainly nothing hypocritical about the media handling every perceived intollerance with complete and utter intollerance.
You can’t help but view the scene as a Gibson retort to his handing by media in the past over “racist rants” but its the observation that news is now entertainment that sticks. Its so true.
You only have to follow Amanda Knox’s diatribe for a day to witness the extent to which this has become true. Her contention is that her whole public life was stolen by the media for entertainment purposes and to fuel their profits after she was imprisoned for murder in Italy. She stands as one of the most interesting case studies on this problem as well as one of its most vocal combatants.
As for Trump and his assault on “Fake News”; thats a rabit hole too deep to go into here!
The inevitable push back to this trend is underpinned by public hunger for better. Several business models of note have emerged.
Medium
Medium is one of if not the most notable example. Driven by its billionaire founder its journey has forayed into advertising revenue only to settle on a subscription model enabled, it seems, because it reached a critical mass of nearly 100 unique readers per month. It currently employes around 35 “curators” to approve stories and label them according to category so that the Medium algorithms can push interesting content appropriately. Those who use Medium will know that it is getting better and better at doing so.
This team of curators reviews thousands of articles each day but only those designated as paid viewing by their authors (who need to join the Partner Program).
How does DAP differ?
DAP alerts readers via a telegram channel and twitter account when a new article is published for a given DAP (publication). This is a different means to notification than most next generation news producers use, which is usually email. But it could be more aligned with technology’s direction of travel.
If you will soon be able to micropay with Libra on Facebook channels and TON on Telegram then links to DAP open articles could accept a micropayment and send the user to the content.
The Information is a notable Silicon Valley online news company which the great and the good seem to have rallied behind. It also runs its own incubator about which it created its own documentary series. This series offers a fantastic fly on the wall perspective about the challenges talented journalists face going it alone.
Most of its alumni impelement their own website or newsletter and try to find ways to monetise their by getting loyal followers to pay to consume.
How does DAP differ?
Whereas DAP is a direct competitor of Medium by virtue of the fact it is an alternative platform (allbeit running on decentralized rails), it is potentially a solution The Information type producers could leverage. Of course, so is Medium!
The key difference between the Medium option and the DAP option is that a centralised organisation is not controlling the money; a smart contract is. That smart contract can’t arbitrarily ban you and ruin your business whereas Medium could.
The prevailing challenge described by producers enrolled in The Information’s incubator is developing a sustainable revenue stream. Essentially, a revenue model is not native to the technologies they are using whereas money in the form of crypto is native to DAP.
If we stick with the revenue example described above and think more Telegram than Facebook (Telegram’s new blockchain support solidity with which DAP is constructed) how could we solve these creators problem without giving up control to yet another tech giant?
The micro payments paid when links to new articles are clicked pay straight to that DAP’s smart contract and are autonomously distributed to its writers. Appropriate ad revenue e.g. sponsorships could also be paid straight into the contract via AdEx or a similar new breed of onchain advertising platforms.
DAP is positioned to capitalize on the direction that technology is taking us and to solve the problems with the press. It is a reinvention of the industry.
Published at Thu, 25 Jul 2019 12:50:35 +0000
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Bitcoin coins photo.
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By antanacoins on 2013-10-16 01:38:06
