New Media Doesn't Cost Money, 'It Costs Interesting'

Seth Godin writes:

If you want to get elected in the US, you need media.

When TV was king, the secret to media was money. If you have money, you can reach the masses. The best way to get money is to make powerful interests happy, so they’ll give you money you can use to reach the masses and get re-elected.

Now, though…When attention is scarce and there are many choices, media costs something other than money. It costs interesting. If you are angry or remarkable or an outlier, you’re interesting, and your idea can spread. People who are dull and merely aligned with powerful interests have a harder time earning attention, because money isn’t sufficient.

How is new media changing the news in old media? This self-deprecating video highlights how a local Dallas station is still working out the bugs:

[youtube O8g3AFnT_Hk]

More seriously though, what happens the palace guard of old media is forced to actually interact with someone in new media? The results are often not pretty to watch, though Hannah Arendt wouldn’t be at all surprised.

(H/T: Patrick Ruffini.)