For media, this is a very truly exciting time. Vice demonstrating commitment to quality storytelling by staffing up. Capital New York and Politico making lethal, ambitious plays for their target audience. Vox bought Curbed. Stelter, get out! Bai, hop in, please! Hugo, like bespectacled schema, sheds tears of creative destruction to blaze trails for newer, uncommon thinkers. Don't finish biting your nails just yet: Now, rumors swirl that Gawker Media and Business Insider may merge their platforms in a 2:30 p.m. announcement. Could it be true? Will could it be true? Making it easier on you, Here's Why The 8 Best Things The Gawker/BI Merger Means.
Synthesizing New Criticisms Isn't Enough
Used to be that directly engaging new users on a slick redesign with new talent (after shedding old talent of course) was enough to do the type of storytelling that was meant to be told for readers. Now, the personal franchise model has created a barrier for this sort of direct engagement. Can Gawker / BI engage the brand, and not the brander? While hunting the brandee? We'll find out.
Powerful New Publishing Tools MAY Be Enough
While everyone once rushed to mobile, now acquiring multiple platform gurus isn't just about making the play—it's about being a destination. Engage commenters, fine. Make commenters, even better. But making commenters and engaging them are two different things. Nick Denton and Henry Blodget will need to act quickly, and without delay: The Big Guns are counting on them. We'll also find this out.
Cerberus To Cyclops: One Voice, Not Two
They sound so different! Gawker pits razors edge of hyperelvancy air horn against BI's evergreen bluegrass twang. She Likes Rock, but He Likes Country. How can both these behemoths tread lightly without alienating their readers who like their unique songbird trills? Finding this out will be hard, but we'll find it out.
The Hiring Long Game Is More Of A BORED Game
You can tune up your staff, but you can't make them drink. This will be the biggest challenge of a newly reformed Gawker/BI: It will be easy to get bogged down poaching talent hides, but make sure to avoid the poacher-hunters! Millennials like reading millennials, but they don't like buying millennials, that's for sure.
The Return of The 3 E's: Aggregation, Excellence, and Ignition
The vox populi have a front-row seat—warts and all—to the most promising brand convergence of the early 21st century. Kinja softly, but carry a big stick. Who lands first contact? The only thing that's for certain: There's only winners in this blood bath.
Media fellow Marc Yearsley contributed to this report
