Forbes investor: Biz journalism needs to become personalized

Venture captial investor Roger McNamee, whose firm recently bought a minority stake in the Forbes media company, argued at the Technology Review’s Emerging Technology Conference at MIT on Thursday that business journalism needs to become more personalized, especially on the Internet.

News.com’s Martin LaMonica wrote, “McNamee spoke specifically about Elevation Partners’ investment in Forbes, the venerable business magazine. He said that he hopes to introduce more personalization at Forbes’s Web site in order to provide readers with valuable insight, rather than only news.

“For example, a news story on changing mortgage rates could be a signal for a reader to refinance. In order to do that, the Web site needs a lot of personal information on the reader, which is valuable to advertisers.

“‘That is what business journalism has to aim for: personalization, trust and authority. I think all of journalism has to do that because people don’t have enough time,’ McNamee said.

“He said that he is investing in media because it has the potential to affect a large number of people and improve political discourse in the country.”

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