Since 2007, Adjunct Professor of postgraduate New Media Business at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, U.S.A., where I wrote and teach the required course about that subject for New Media Management master's degree students (which also is an elective course for other master's degree students and Ph.D. candidates). From 1996 to 2007, managing partner of the media business consulting firm Digital Deliverance LLC in Greenwich, Connecticut. Prior to then, an executive with newspapers, UPI, Reuters, and several startup New Media companies. Fifth-generation in the news business.
Cuadernos de periodistas: revista de la Asociación de la Prensa de Madrid, 2008
Los diarios estadounidenses estan en declive, pero no a causa de la crisis economica o por la apa... more Los diarios estadounidenses estan en declive, pero no a causa de la crisis economica o por la aparicion de Internet, sino porque las empresas periodisticas no han sabido adaptarse al cambio radical registrado en los ultimos 35 anos en el suministro de noticias; esto es, por violar el principio de la oferta y la demanda. En esa medida, el problema no es solo norteamericano, sino mundial, y de ahi el interes del presente ensayo, publicado originariamente en el blog "Rebuilding Media". .
What is new media? We may begin answering this question by listing the objects which are commonly... more What is new media? We may begin answering this question by listing the objects which are commonly discussed under this topic in popular press: Internet, Web sites, computer multimedia, computer games, CD-ROMs and DVD-Roms, Virtual Reality. Is this all new media is? For instance, what about television programs which are shot with digital video and edited on computer workstations? Or what about feature films which use 3-D animation and digital compositing? Shall we count these as new media? In this case, what about all print- ...
Purpose: This article asserts that new, extremely popular modes of media services have arisen dur... more Purpose: This article asserts that new, extremely popular modes of media services have arisen during the past 25 years that need to be critically categorized as different from the Mass Media we have known from the Industrial Era. These aggregational, extremely customized, new genus of media services, which I term collectively Individuated Media, arise solely from computer-mediated technologies, and are unprecedented before this century. All take marked advantage of a largely overlooked inherent limitation that Industrial Era technologies have but that Informational Era technologies don't. Method: Among four approaches toward a conceptual paper, this article uses model approach to explain this new concept and to suggest new connections to understand the phenomenon of individuated media. Findings: Among forms Individuated Media take are search engines, social media, and extant forms of individually customizable topical or genre services produced solely via computer-mediated techno...
Los diarios estadounidenses estan en declive, pero no a causa de la crisis economica o por la apa... more Los diarios estadounidenses estan en declive, pero no a causa de la crisis economica o por la aparicion de Internet, sino porque las empresas periodisticas no han sabido adaptarse al cambio radical registrado en los ultimos 35 anos en el suministro de noticias; esto es, por violar el principio de la oferta y la demanda. En esa medida, el problema no es solo norteamericano, sino mundial, y de ahi el interes del presente ensayo, publicado originariamente en el blog "Rebuilding Media". .
There is a saying about Einstein's Theory of Relativity—that what makes it diffi... more There is a saying about Einstein's Theory of Relativity—that what makes it difficult for some people to comprehend is its simplicity. That you don't need to acquire more information to understand it, but that you must instead discard preconceived notions to understand it.
Purpose: This article asserts that new, extremely popular modes of media services have arisen dur... more Purpose: This article asserts that new, extremely popular modes of media services have arisen during the past 25 years that need to be critically categorized as different from the Mass Media we have known from the Industrial Era. These aggregational, extremely customized, new genus of media services, which I term collectively Individuated Media, arise solely from computer-mediated technologies, and are unprecedented before this century. All take marked advantage of a largely overlooked inherent limitation that Industrial Era technologies have but that Informational Era technologies don't. Method: Among four approaches toward a conceptual paper, this article uses model approach to explain this new concept and to suggest new connections to understand the phenomenon of individuated media. Findings: Among forms Individuated Media take are search engines, social media, and extant forms of individually customizable topical or genre services produced solely via computer-mediated technologies. The fulminant rise of these extremely popular Individuated Media is already causing them to supersede Mass Media products and services as the predominant means by which a significant portion of the world's population now obtains news, entertainment, and other information. This topological paper proposes a conceptual framework for defining this new genus and raises research questions for further study.
This article asserts that new, extremely popular modes of media services have arisen during the p... more This article asserts that new, extremely popular modes of media services have arisen during the past 25 years that need to be critically categorized as different from the Mass Media we have known from the Industrial Era. These aggregational, extremely customized new modes of media services, which I term collectively Individuated Media, arise solely from computermediated technologies, and are unprecedented before circa 1998. All these take marked Individuated Media: A Cognitive Framework1
Newspapers
and their Web sites must change their approach to publishing
news -- online and off --... more Newspapers and their Web sites must change their approach to publishing news -- online and off -- if they want to successfully compete with the many Web sites and other new information sources vying for readers' attention and loyalty.
Project for Excellence report concludes that Internet news sites
are the industry's most promisin... more Project for Excellence report concludes that Internet news sites are the industry's most promising segment. But lack of profits and sound business plans are forcing cutbacks in news-gathering efforts. As a result, traditional journalism sees standards and audiences eroding.
For centuries, it was thought that essentially only two categories of transportation vehicles exi... more For centuries, it was thought that essentially only two categories of transportation vehicles exist, each with reciprocal advantages and disadvantages. Vehicles for the medium of land are most practical for people's daily use but don't have the larger carrying capacities and global ranges of vehicles for the medium of water. The development, beginning in 1904 of a third category of vehicles, namely those for the medium of air (a category entirely dependent upon technology) have provided the best of advantages of the two previous categories of vehicles yet without those categories' corresponding disadvantages, and has won major usage worldwide, replacing many earlier vehicles of transportation. An analogous situation exists for communications vehicles. Vehicles for Interpersonal communications, a category which is aboriginal but now has its reach enhanced by such manifestations as telephony and text messaging, offer each communication participant shared control and customization of contents yet degrades when the number of participants in a communication increases beyond two. By contrast, vehicles for Mass communications, which arose from the analog technologies of the Industrial Era and still continue, can involve mass numbers of people participating as receivers of contents yet can't offer each customization of the contents or shared control of the contents (control which in Mass communications lies solely in the hands of its sender: publisher, broadcaster, etc.) Those two categories of communications vehicles have reciprocal advantages and disadvantages. However, the relatively recent invention of a third category of communications vehicles (namely computer-mediated communication) provides the advantages of both Interpersonal and Mass vehicles but without each of those categories' disadvantages. Mass reach with simultaneous Interpersonal (individualized or individuated) customization and shared control. That is the new in New Media.
This paper is a conceptual framework for comprehending how the shift in people’s access and choic... more This paper is a conceptual framework for comprehending how the shift in people’s access and choices in news, entertainment, and other information, changes people’s media consumption habits; thwarts many Mass Media business models and practices; and proposes that a shift is underway from the Mass Media of the Industrial Era and to the computer-mediated Individuated Media of the Informational Era. This epochal shift, resulting in most people having nearly instantaneous access in hand to more information than has before been printed or broadcast, is the greatest change in the history of media. It is already causing profound political, industrial, and societal effects and changes worldwide.
Cuadernos de periodistas: revista de la Asociación de la Prensa de Madrid, 2008
Los diarios estadounidenses estan en declive, pero no a causa de la crisis economica o por la apa... more Los diarios estadounidenses estan en declive, pero no a causa de la crisis economica o por la aparicion de Internet, sino porque las empresas periodisticas no han sabido adaptarse al cambio radical registrado en los ultimos 35 anos en el suministro de noticias; esto es, por violar el principio de la oferta y la demanda. En esa medida, el problema no es solo norteamericano, sino mundial, y de ahi el interes del presente ensayo, publicado originariamente en el blog "Rebuilding Media". .
What is new media? We may begin answering this question by listing the objects which are commonly... more What is new media? We may begin answering this question by listing the objects which are commonly discussed under this topic in popular press: Internet, Web sites, computer multimedia, computer games, CD-ROMs and DVD-Roms, Virtual Reality. Is this all new media is? For instance, what about television programs which are shot with digital video and edited on computer workstations? Or what about feature films which use 3-D animation and digital compositing? Shall we count these as new media? In this case, what about all print- ...
Purpose: This article asserts that new, extremely popular modes of media services have arisen dur... more Purpose: This article asserts that new, extremely popular modes of media services have arisen during the past 25 years that need to be critically categorized as different from the Mass Media we have known from the Industrial Era. These aggregational, extremely customized, new genus of media services, which I term collectively Individuated Media, arise solely from computer-mediated technologies, and are unprecedented before this century. All take marked advantage of a largely overlooked inherent limitation that Industrial Era technologies have but that Informational Era technologies don't. Method: Among four approaches toward a conceptual paper, this article uses model approach to explain this new concept and to suggest new connections to understand the phenomenon of individuated media. Findings: Among forms Individuated Media take are search engines, social media, and extant forms of individually customizable topical or genre services produced solely via computer-mediated techno...
Los diarios estadounidenses estan en declive, pero no a causa de la crisis economica o por la apa... more Los diarios estadounidenses estan en declive, pero no a causa de la crisis economica o por la aparicion de Internet, sino porque las empresas periodisticas no han sabido adaptarse al cambio radical registrado en los ultimos 35 anos en el suministro de noticias; esto es, por violar el principio de la oferta y la demanda. En esa medida, el problema no es solo norteamericano, sino mundial, y de ahi el interes del presente ensayo, publicado originariamente en el blog "Rebuilding Media". .
There is a saying about Einstein's Theory of Relativity—that what makes it diffi... more There is a saying about Einstein's Theory of Relativity—that what makes it difficult for some people to comprehend is its simplicity. That you don't need to acquire more information to understand it, but that you must instead discard preconceived notions to understand it.
Purpose: This article asserts that new, extremely popular modes of media services have arisen dur... more Purpose: This article asserts that new, extremely popular modes of media services have arisen during the past 25 years that need to be critically categorized as different from the Mass Media we have known from the Industrial Era. These aggregational, extremely customized, new genus of media services, which I term collectively Individuated Media, arise solely from computer-mediated technologies, and are unprecedented before this century. All take marked advantage of a largely overlooked inherent limitation that Industrial Era technologies have but that Informational Era technologies don't. Method: Among four approaches toward a conceptual paper, this article uses model approach to explain this new concept and to suggest new connections to understand the phenomenon of individuated media. Findings: Among forms Individuated Media take are search engines, social media, and extant forms of individually customizable topical or genre services produced solely via computer-mediated technologies. The fulminant rise of these extremely popular Individuated Media is already causing them to supersede Mass Media products and services as the predominant means by which a significant portion of the world's population now obtains news, entertainment, and other information. This topological paper proposes a conceptual framework for defining this new genus and raises research questions for further study.
This article asserts that new, extremely popular modes of media services have arisen during the p... more This article asserts that new, extremely popular modes of media services have arisen during the past 25 years that need to be critically categorized as different from the Mass Media we have known from the Industrial Era. These aggregational, extremely customized new modes of media services, which I term collectively Individuated Media, arise solely from computermediated technologies, and are unprecedented before circa 1998. All these take marked Individuated Media: A Cognitive Framework1
Newspapers
and their Web sites must change their approach to publishing
news -- online and off --... more Newspapers and their Web sites must change their approach to publishing news -- online and off -- if they want to successfully compete with the many Web sites and other new information sources vying for readers' attention and loyalty.
Project for Excellence report concludes that Internet news sites
are the industry's most promisin... more Project for Excellence report concludes that Internet news sites are the industry's most promising segment. But lack of profits and sound business plans are forcing cutbacks in news-gathering efforts. As a result, traditional journalism sees standards and audiences eroding.
For centuries, it was thought that essentially only two categories of transportation vehicles exi... more For centuries, it was thought that essentially only two categories of transportation vehicles exist, each with reciprocal advantages and disadvantages. Vehicles for the medium of land are most practical for people's daily use but don't have the larger carrying capacities and global ranges of vehicles for the medium of water. The development, beginning in 1904 of a third category of vehicles, namely those for the medium of air (a category entirely dependent upon technology) have provided the best of advantages of the two previous categories of vehicles yet without those categories' corresponding disadvantages, and has won major usage worldwide, replacing many earlier vehicles of transportation. An analogous situation exists for communications vehicles. Vehicles for Interpersonal communications, a category which is aboriginal but now has its reach enhanced by such manifestations as telephony and text messaging, offer each communication participant shared control and customization of contents yet degrades when the number of participants in a communication increases beyond two. By contrast, vehicles for Mass communications, which arose from the analog technologies of the Industrial Era and still continue, can involve mass numbers of people participating as receivers of contents yet can't offer each customization of the contents or shared control of the contents (control which in Mass communications lies solely in the hands of its sender: publisher, broadcaster, etc.) Those two categories of communications vehicles have reciprocal advantages and disadvantages. However, the relatively recent invention of a third category of communications vehicles (namely computer-mediated communication) provides the advantages of both Interpersonal and Mass vehicles but without each of those categories' disadvantages. Mass reach with simultaneous Interpersonal (individualized or individuated) customization and shared control. That is the new in New Media.
This paper is a conceptual framework for comprehending how the shift in people’s access and choic... more This paper is a conceptual framework for comprehending how the shift in people’s access and choices in news, entertainment, and other information, changes people’s media consumption habits; thwarts many Mass Media business models and practices; and proposes that a shift is underway from the Mass Media of the Industrial Era and to the computer-mediated Individuated Media of the Informational Era. This epochal shift, resulting in most people having nearly instantaneous access in hand to more information than has before been printed or broadcast, is the greatest change in the history of media. It is already causing profound political, industrial, and societal effects and changes worldwide.
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Papers by Vin Crosbie
and their Web sites must change their approach to publishing
news -- online and off -- if they want to successfully compete
with the many Web sites and other new information sources
vying for readers' attention and loyalty.
are the industry's most promising segment. But lack of profits
and sound business plans are forcing cutbacks in news-gathering
efforts. As a result, traditional journalism sees standards and
audiences eroding.
and their Web sites must change their approach to publishing
news -- online and off -- if they want to successfully compete
with the many Web sites and other new information sources
vying for readers' attention and loyalty.
are the industry's most promising segment. But lack of profits
and sound business plans are forcing cutbacks in news-gathering
efforts. As a result, traditional journalism sees standards and
audiences eroding.