Why did we choose to become a business media company using the blogging format to publish?

To understand this, it will be helpful to understand what we believe.

We gave our network the name of Know More Media for several reasons.  One was that we felt that our niche focus approach in an ongoing publishing format, with the ability to engage in conversations, would give our readers the chance to know more about that niche topic than from other formats.  The other meaning may seem a little hokey, but we firmly see certain trends that make us believe that we are seeing the end of media as we have know it over the last century, hence the double meaning of "No More" media - or no more media as we have known it.

Consider these recent comments about the traditional newspaper and print business:

• "Tough year for the newspaper industry..."
• "The start of The Great Depression for professional journalists..."
• "Massive staff reductions have become and increasingly common development..."
• "More Than 2,000 Newspaper Jobs Lost"
• "Major...titles have experienced significant ad page erosion during 2005..."
• New York Times Co. said...that its fourth-quarter profit would plunge 39% from that of a year earlier

Here are the stories that contained these quotes:

As a trusted friend once told me, “it is a pretty thin pancake that has only one side.”

Thanks a lot Darren for bringing up the downside of joining a network. Who knew?

Actually, we agree. While there are benefits to blogging for a network, it is not for everyone and every blog network is not the same. I think that is the takeaway from Darren’s post on “Why You Shouldn’t Join a Blog Network.” Darren’s post is a fair and equal follow-up to his “Why You Should Join a Blog Network” post.

As time goes by, additional blog networks will emerge and each will have positives and negatives. That is good for blogging and bloggers. Choices are what a make a market succeed. Like deciding on a job, or purchasing a car, you will be happiest and most productive if you can find a fit.

When joining a network you are becoming a part of a team and in a sense creating a partnership with the network and other authors. Some bloggers will thrive on the sense of community and team atmosphere of a network. Others will be annoyed by these same attributes.

In a blog network, like any successful team, there are role players. Some produce content (bloggers), others provides tools and software and the promotion of the network (the network). If you are a generalist and are capable and interested in doing more than writing, stay independent.

We think a network for business content is critical. Many of the best writers for business topics will be specialists – not have expertise or interest in the technical aspects of blogging. Most will understand teamwork and the concept of synergy and the economics of our business model. We think it works and is a good fit for Know More Media’s niche.

I read an interesting conversation on Gary Goldhammer’s blog, Below the Fold. Gary writes on “New journalism, modern public relations and shifts in media practices.”

In a post entitled “Unbundled Journalists: Every Reporter is a Freelancer – and a Brand,” Gary suggested that new media empowers journalists to create their own brand, and thereby

“break the surly bonds of their media masters…In this new model, reporters, not newspapers or networks, are the brands.”

True. I think immediately of Jeff Jarvis, Michelle Malkin, David Sifrey, Guy Kawasaki.  I could probably name a few more but what about all us other citizen journalists?  You know, the other 35 million?

Gary received a comment from John Cass that shed some light on this topic,

“I think that while media institutions are successful when they give more freedom to journalists, it’s the combination of talented individuals and a company that provides a structure that supports a journalist is really the winning combination.”

I think Cass has it right and Gary acknowledged the contribution of his comment. I am not a career journalist so my perspective may be different but I believe that the most efficient and productive model for blogging (for those of us not on the A-list) is a network that merges independent voices in a topical platform.