The Guardian conference kicks off to a fairly full room where the delegate list covers pretty much every media company, and every person with ‘media’ somewhere in their title, in the UK. It’s interesting that a newspaper company refers to newspapers and other media as ‘old’ despite it being very current.

Reuters advisor to the chief executive, Geert Linnebank, talks about challenges for the media industry.
- Expectations of consumers: the younger generation are more promiscuous less loyal, jumping from media to media
- Revolution to digital: IPTV, next generation mobile is the fastest growing communication method in the world
- Maintaining and building brands
- Revenue: the new revenue model for Web 2.0 isn’t clear, particularly creating content whilst generating significant revenue
- Intellectual Property: “theft is rife”, how can companies protect it?
 
He talks about the basic elements and rule of how to run a business are the same – identifying consumers, listening to them, engaging consumers, serve them better than your competitors. But now, everyone can provide media – be a reporter, editor or TV producer and present it to the public online. “I’m not talking quality, I’m talking quantity”.

There are “lots of players, lots of pieces” now. No single company can or would want to do it all any more (except maybe Google). Focus on what you do best, put effort into your core competencies advises Linnebank.

Partnering will be key in the future. Media companies still need to produce content, distribute it, market it plus bill and collect money. They need partners but the partnering instinct doesn’t come naturally, especially from those that used to control all processes from end to end themselves. Linnebank states that companies must listen as well as talk.

Blogs are also identified as a key part of the future which Linnebank believes are a partner of old and new world, a “mixing of voices”. Blogs are starting to change the way that Reuters work in the newsroom. Opinions and voices are an important part of media, it’s not just breaking news about war and tragedy. “Bloggers can get it wrong, after all it’s opinion but we shouldn’t stop listening, they often get it right”.

Trust will be a determining factor of success in the future. Can users trust all sources? It’s certainly a prominent subject and it appears that it’s belived news sites and media platforms who prove trustworthy will keep users. Perhaps this will be the determininfg factor of reader stickiness. Linnebank notices that “time isn’t a renewable resource” therefore users want to go somewhere they know they can get accurate information quickly.

He sums up this area with a question: “Is truth the victim of the future of a world with a million sources?”