Online isn't so easy. Farming online has replaced copy written by journalists with an automated feed and claims,
"no subscribers had complained about the change and that while IFBN gave stories “a certain focus and helped expand it” he wondered if that “added value” was noticeable."
This is certainly grounded in financial necessity, but is a grim warning about the future of business journalism. In days gone by the national press and the broadcast media would use trade publications as expert sources of specialist news. Just as local newspapers would have hacks tracking down stories that nationals could not possibly identify and resource, so trade journalists dug out the truth in their specialist areas of interest. There have been many occasions when national newspapers have lifted whole stories from trade papers with little change or fillow up. Only this morning Computer Weeklys Executive Editor, Tony Collins was interviewed in the Today programme about transparency of government IT projects.
As business mags die, the fourth estate will be ever more dependent on news from the web. If the farming online intiative is a the start of a trend, rather than a curiosity, the days of business media being influential are numbered.
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