…And maybe that (charging for the content, rather than charging for the software features) is the line Jobs is drawing, but it is a line that won’t last long. The most successful publishing apps will look increasingly like other apps, with software features that take them beyond glorified PDF readers. Smart publishers might even start charging subscription fees to unlock those extra features—3D photos, social news filters, augmented reality layers—instead of for the content itself.
You have to get down to the bottom of this piece for the key paragraph but it’s there, what journalism and news media have to do to provide a differentiable (and perhaps financially viable) service.
It’s not just about telling stories anymore but rather creating the environments in which news consumers get involved with those stories. You can’t copyright facts. But you can own (and be preferred over others for) the story experience. And that may be a higher caliber, more powerful journalism after all. Because journalism that doesn’t get notice has no effect and therefore fails to do the key thing journalism needs to do – matter.
