The New York Times has an API and developer network. The Guardian just announced the Open Platform. These initiatives are critically important in keeping the NYT and the Guardian relevant. Opening up and giving access to the existing articles and data is a great first step, but the trick will be to turn these into real hubs, which also allow for inbound news and data. The Guardian has taken a big step in this direction with its data store (kudos to the team at AMEE, which is a featured partner for the launch). Both papers actually own cash flow positive businesses which could help with this transformation (Trader in the case of Guardian, About in the case of the NYT).
A platform strategy makes a lot more sense than a “last man standing” strategy. The two critical questions would seem to be:
Will they get the rest of their cost structure and how they operate in line with the platform model? This would essentially require turning some of the current staff into separate “suppliers” which could operate on the platform but would have to compete with alternative sources.
Can they deliver enough value as a platform? What value do third parties get from the platform that they don’t get simply on the web? There has to be a fair bit of intelligence built into the platform. Since it is unlikely that this will be built in-house by NYT or Guardian (or other papers pursuing a similar strategy) that represents an opportunity.
I look forward to seeing what applications and use cases develop on top of these platforms and how technology will get injected to provide leverage. Hoping that we will see several horses in this race for some time. That will be good for everyone.
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