Is Scitable a game-changing model for publishing?
A couple of months ago I attended a discussion at the National Press Club titled “What Will We Tell Peoria?” during which a panel of journalists complained that people have become too stupid to realize how essential traditional methods of reporting are and how we’ll all be sorry when rigorous newsrooms close and papers die and only TMZ is left standing. I think that is rubbish. In my work, I believe it is essential to give the gift that people want and not the gift you think they should have. Newspaper magnates are indignantly trying to force feed us their content believing their version of civics is the innoculation we need to prevent us from becoming vile Yahoos. I believed that papers needed to convert their devoted readership into a devoted community — transitioning one-way print and broadcasting into conversation and sharing. There are almost no good examples of this. At least that’s what I thought before I received an e-mail from
