Internet pioneer and investor Marc Andreessen spun out some thoughts about the news business on Twitter Wednesday. 2005 was the last year of an era that lasted since World War II, he said — one in which news was a monopoly business that profited from controlling distribution. But just because the Internet found a way around the old system doesn’t mean there’s no future for news: The industry “Will grow 10x-100x,” Andreessen predicted.
He doesn’t, however, see local news riding that wave. On Monday, Steve Waldman wrote about the existential crisis facing local news, as more investment money flows to outlets with a national outlook: “News is tough enough to make money on but at least if you’re national you can generate massive numbers of ad impressions and the possibility of Amazonian reach,” Waldman wrote. “Venture capital investors can only get 5x return or more for businesses that promise national or global scale.”
Comments