Debate over the New York Times recent op-ed issues has focused on assigning blame, and questioning the editorial process. But they’re missing one important point – op-eds simply don’t work on the Internet and users care mostly about the article of one. Here’s why this is going to be transformational.
Key Points
- Today, the overwhelming majority of users consume the ‘article of one’ – itemized content that they come to individually – rather than subscribing to multiple publications.
- That individual article is what creates debate – it’s all that matters – and thus the individual article is what has value to the user.
- But an audience that values individual articles, rather than an entire publication, will also be willing to pay for that one piece of content.
- Given that most audiences no longer read all the articles that a publication posts in the average day – instead finding them online or shared via social media – how are they to recognize that something is, in fact, an opinion piece?
- If publishers want to continue to provide a variety of opinion, it will be on them to also provide the context.
- Publishers need to recognize this shift and adjust their editorial – and monetization – processes accordingly.