New media seeking day in the sun
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Renita Jablonski: This week marks the 25th Sun Valley conference for media titans. If you haven’t heard of this thing, here’s how it works: a New York investment bank called Allen and Company convenes the event in Idaho every year so the biggest names in media can hang out, schmooze, maybe even get a few deals going. But this year, the forecast may be a little cloudy in Sun Valley. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.
Ashley Milne-Tyte: Another Sun Valley, another snapshot of Rupert Murdoch in shades, or Barry Diller cycling around in shorts.
But even if the moguls look relaxed this week, Porter Bibb of Media Tech Capital Partners says the business isn’t making money the way it used to.
Porter Bibb: The media industry almost all across the board is in the dumper in a way that has never ever been seen by the economy.
Like the media business itself, the annual gathering is due for a change, says Jeff Jarvis. He teaches journalism at the City University of New York.
Jeff Jarvis: I think it’s time for Sun Valley junior, the dawn of the geeks.
Jarvis says the moment has come for companies like news site Digg or networking site LinkedIn to take their place in the sun.
Jarvis: Some will become the next Facebook or the next Google or the next MySpace, and that’s where the innovation is happening in media today.
But for now, these growing companies are still too small for their owners to warrant mogul status.
In New York, I’m Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace.
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