I think Nate Thayer seems to have over-reacted to the situation. The news requested by the global editor was commodity news; it wasn't exclusive content.
The problem with commodity news is not one of quality but of quantity. Much like any other commodity product, news is driven by volume. Unfortunately, demand has far outstripped the supply. In the absence of clear differentiators, organizations rely on SEO tactics, content marketing and social media tools as new distribution channels for news.
Most technology-oriented solutions, however, put a different tack to the problem. They approach it from the efficiency perspective. Acquiring news (or, reporting and writing news) is an expensive activity. In fact, were it not for journalists’ famously low salaries, the returns on investment for news acquisition would be unsustainable.
The problem with commodity news is not one of quality but of quantity. Much like any other commodity product, news is driven by volume. Unfortunately, demand has far outstripped the supply. In the absence of clear differentiators, organizations rely on SEO tactics, content marketing and social media tools as new distribution channels for news.
Most technology-oriented solutions, however, put a different tack to the problem. They approach it from the efficiency perspective. Acquiring news (or, reporting and writing news) is an expensive activity. In fact, were it not for journalists’ famously low salaries, the returns on investment for news acquisition would be unsustainable.