[icernet] Web media gurus predict vibrant, lucrative future

[Arul Selvan]

The results of an online journalism industry meeting recently held in Switzerland are published in a report that bodes well for the future prospects of Web media, Editor & Publisher Online reports. "IP Zurich Report: Interactive Publishing Industry Europe 2003  2005" is the result of 20 experts' findings, including former Wall Street Journal Online (WSJ.com) publisher Neil Budde. The report makes many predictions, including increased revenue, efficient ad sales and more importantly, online news content specifically designed for the Web, rather than borrowed from print and broadcast. These boosts are attributed to the prediction that online news will eventually be run by people with a strict Internet background. The only debate is whether these positive changes will take place within the next three years or if it will take longer. Steve Outing, E & P reporter and senior editor at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, says that this evolution in 
Web media has been discussed since the mid-1990s, but he hopes that this report is the end of lip service and the beginning of action.

Source:
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/editorandpublisher/features_columns/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1814881