ContentNext Media Bows Thought Leader Commentaries

Provocative Views From Top Executives, Analysts & Technologists

Charter Advertisers Include Mojiva,
Institute for Media and Entertainment, & ExactTarget

NEW YORK – July 22, 2009 – ContentNext Media, publisher of leading digital-media sites paidContent, mocoNews, paidContent:UK and contentSutra, today announced “Thought Leaders”, a new editorial feature delivering edgy industry insight and analysis. Charter advertisers include Mojiva, Institute for Media and Entertainment, and ExactTarget.

“The addition of ‘Thought Leaders’ builds on our commitment to spotlighting exclusive, fresh and unique points of view,” said Ernie Sander, Managing Editor of ContentNext Media’s four editorial properties. “We’re combining original, hard-hitting journalism with creative, thought-provoking opinion pieces as part of our overall strategy to challenge conventional thinking. These columns are topical, carry the tone and voice of the author, and are sparking lively dialogues with our readers.”

“Thought Leaders” will consist of regular editorial contributions from a select group of top new-media executives, entrepreneurs, technologists, funders, analysts and others with the shrewdness and experience to offer valuable, diverse wisdom. Current columns, and links to previous columns, are featured prominently on ContentNext’s suite of Web sites.

The series includes a provocative piece by Jim Spanfeller, treasurer of the Online Publishers Association and Chairman Emeritus of the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Jim delved into what Google can do to make the Web less of a ‘cesspool,’ where he said: “…in attempting to ‘do no evil,’ Google has done exactly that.” A follow-up suggested how to get past the generational divide on the future of news. “Newspapers are under siege not because people no longer desire the news,” he said, “but … because the best form factor for getting that news no longer involves printing plants, ink barrels and delivery trucks.”

Kevin Wassong, president of Minyanville Media Inc. (a digital network creating branded content about the world of finance), offered an open letter to broadcast networks, dissection the form and function of the Hulu online video service. While it’s great, he noted, Hulu may also represent the greatest destruction of media value in our lifetime. “The music industry has never recovered from Napster. Eat Hulu before it eats you!”

More recently, Polaris Venture Partners executive-in-residence Brian Grey likened scouting for top business execs to scouting for pro baseball players: “Pick players based on the position they should play, not the position they are currently playing.” Guardian America Digital Editorial Consultant and former WashingtonPost.com Executive Editor Jim Brady, meanwhile, lent his voice to the ongoing debate of charging for Web content in a piece on why a new (and unusual) pricing strategy by a Rhode Island paper will fail. “By penalizing people who only want to use the paper’s Web site, the Daily News is likely guaranteeing itself future irrelevancy.”

Other Thought Leaders include comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni, and Daylife CEO and founder, Upendra Shardan.

About ContentNext Media, Inc.
ContentNext Media, Inc., a Guardian News & Media company based in New York City and Santa Monica, California, covers the business of digital media. The company operates paidContent.org, mocoNews.net, contentSutra.com and paidContent:UK. Founded by noted journalist Rafat Ali in 2002, the company’s news sites chronicle the economic evolution of digital content that is shaping the future of the media, information and entertainment industries. The company also operates a paid research division and conducts exclusive industry events. Our belief is that in the near future, all media will be digital media, and we are helping define sustainable business models and innovation within this sector. ContentNext Media is online at http://www.contentnext.com.

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