Lewis Dvorkin, the chief product officer at Forbes, writes about the rise of entrepreneurial journalism and how many of the contributors to Forbes.com are experts in the field in which they write about.
Dvorkin writes, “They share their knowledge directly with the reader. I love how Dan Bigman, a FORBES managing editor and former Times business editor, puts it: ‘If you’re good enough to quote, you should be good enough to write.’
“Digital publishing and social media have turned the economics of journalism upside down. Content is everywhere, produced by everyone, not just those who own the presses or control the airwaves or cables. That’s changed the advertising game, too. Media companies can no longer charge for scarcity. In a new world order that requires quality, scale and efficiency, FORBES is taking full advantage of Joy’s Law, one of those principles that impart either science or wisdom. This one comes from Bill Joy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems. He argued that in a fully networked world ‘no matter who you are, most of the smartest people work someone else.’
“For the past few years, we’ve offered the smartest people working for others — or themselves — the opportunity to be entrepreneurial journalists. Many of our 1,000 contributors have been employed by or have freelanced for the top news brands around the world. That includes national, regional and local newspapers; national and regional magazines; the big broadcast and cable television networks; online sites and radio stations. Academics from the most elite universities and learning institutions write for us, too. So do best-selling book authors, management consultants, business leaders and many others with specific expertise. I keep a Google doc open in a tab on my Chrome browser that continuously updates our contributor base. I recently counted more than 100 well-known brands associated with their backgrounds.”
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