denotes premium content | May 26 2012 
Regular
posted 2 Nov 2004 in Volume 1 Issue 5
So what? It’s content that counts
Each month ei magazine shines a fascinating spotlight on technology, but as the only member of the magazine’s editorial board who started life as a journalist I thought it was time to raise the standard for technology’s true partner in communications – content.
Technology has its vital place in the communications story but it’s only successful if the content behind it is truly compelling. The media landscape is littered with the bones of anyone who thought otherwise. Content needs an excellent technology platform – but it must also shine in its own right.
In the August edition my colleague Michel Gelbart focused on the Reuters corporate portal. We are rightly proud of the technology it embodies, but at its heart is good writing and good information. A company that is also the world’s largest news agency can offer nothing less.
The high hit rate of our employees on our company website is sustained by good quality copy from dedicated writers that is updated regularly. Anything other than that and our employees would go somewhere else for their information – there are plenty of other sources.
I’d go a little further – communication technology launched without a compelling content offering behind it is courting disaster. It is worrying to me that an increasing number of technological solutions are sold on the grounds of, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could just click and do this.” Whatever “this” is. But would it be great if the end result didn’t deliver something authentically interesting to the user?
Technology is helping us communicate faster, more flexibly and to more people more than ever before. But whether it’s website, video, e-mail or chatroom, the key question we should always ask about content is – ‘Is this compelling?’
If the answer comes back – ‘So what’ – then no amount of slick technology is going to save it from being ignored. Content is king, and always has been.
Steve Clarke
Head of internal media, Reuters
