Type "How to paint with water colors" into the Google search box and a whole slew of answers are at your disposal. A recent article from The Economist, discusses the use of content farms, websites that create content to drive up search traffic and therefore revenue. One of the largest of these "content farms" is Demand Media, which according to the Economist article "Emperors and Beggars," is a combination of science and art. Special software seeks what topics users are most interested in as well as how much revenue a certain topic will create.About 7,000 freelancers write articles or make videos about each topic. They must have a "college degree, writing expertise, and a specialty." On average, they make about $20-$25 an hour.
Should this be considered journalism? The content posted on these websites is at best mediocre. The point gets across to the reader, and ultimately gives them the answer they were looking for. The writers get paid, and must have some sort of expertise to be posting articles. I have a hard time calling these writers journalists. Are they seeking out a story and finding answers? Or do they themselves already have the answers? The content of a story is what drives it, and if readers are getting what they want, and it brings in revenue, perhaps this is the future of our online articles.
Photo from: stylianosm on Flickr
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