媒体业陷入了一个棘手的问题

本文是“媒体策略的现实检验”系列文章的第 8 部分。这篇文章最初是我于 2024 年 7 月 3 日与 Fathm 一起在 WAN IFRA 的“AI Unblocked”系列中发表的演讲。

This is part 8 of a series called ‘Reality Check on Media Strategy’. The post was originally a talk that I gave as part of WAN IFRA’s “AI Unblocked” series with Fathm on July 3, 2024.

这是“媒体策略的现实检验”系列的第 8 部分。这篇文章最初是我于 2024 年 7 月 3 日与 Fathm 一起在 WAN IFRA 的“AI Unblocked”系列中发表的演讲。

In this post, I’ll stitch together 7 previous posts in this series along with my Neiman Labs 2025 prediction piece. The media business is stuck in a wicked problem, an issue that’s complex and impossible to solve definitively because of its intricate interconnectedness and the fact that it involves onboarding multiple stakeholders with differing values, perspectives, and goals.

在这篇文章中，我将把本系列之前的 7 篇文章以及 Neiman Labs 的 2025 年预测文章拼接在一起。媒体业务陷入了一个棘手的问题，这个问题很复杂，不可能最终解决，因为它错综复杂的相互关联性，而且它涉及多个具有不同价值观、观点和目标的利益相关者。

Why It Matters

为什么它很重要

Media operators are stuck in tactical hell — endlessly reacting to external pressures, emergencies, or immediate circumstances in pursuit of short-term gains, neglecting long-term strategy and vision. Most resources (time, energy, money) are spent on firefighting rather than building towards sustainable success.

媒体运营商陷入了战术地狱——无休止地对外部压力、紧急情况或眼前的情况做出反应，以追求短期利益，忽视长期战略和愿景。大多数资源（时间、精力、金钱）都花在了救火上，而不是为了可持续的成功而努力。

Below is how it feels to be in tactical hell:

以下是陷入战术地狱的感觉：

This is not limited to publishers. It applies to anyone whose business relies heavily on algorithmic platforms — whether it’s a media house dependent on Google and Facebook, or a restaurant chain relying on Zomato or Swiggy for orders.

这不仅限于出版商。它适用于任何业务严重依赖算法平台的人——无论是依赖谷歌和 Facebook 的媒体公司，还是依赖 Zomato 或 Swiggy 下订单的连锁餐厅。

How Media Companies Ended Up in Tactical Hell

媒体公司如何陷入战术地狱

Two decades ago, media companies set up their websites and apps as additional distribution channels for their offline operations. What followed was a slow descent into the vicious loop represented in the diagram:

二十年前，媒体公司建立了自己的网站和应用程序作为其线下运营的额外分销渠道。接下来是缓慢陷入如图所示的恶性循环：

Media Flywheels #3 – Setting up shop in another’s marketplace: Rather than building proprietary technology to manage their owned-and-operated (O&O) platforms, publishers began renting from BigTech — SEO tools, social media platforms, Google Ad Manager, and more. This meant publishers became increasingly dependent on platforms that they did not own, losing autonomy over their audiences and their monetization. 

媒体飞轮#3 – 在另一个市场开店：发布商不再构建专有技术来管理其自有和运营 (O&O) 平台，而是开始从 BigTech 租赁 - SEO 工具、社交媒体平台、Google Ad Manager 等。这意味着出版商越来越依赖于他们不拥有的平台，失去了对受众和货币化的自主权。

Media Flywheels #20 – Strategic control compromised: Over-time many of the supply-side and demand-side functions of media businesses got outsourced to BigTech algorithmic platforms. This has negative repercussions on the business:

媒体飞轮 #20 – 战略控制受到损害：随着时间的推移，媒体业务的许多供给方和需求方功能都外包给了 BigTech 算法平台。这对企业造成负面影响：

Media Flywheels #18 – Lack of Tech Capability and Capacity: Without capital or data insights, publishers struggled to hire and retain the technical talent necessary to develop advanced ad-targeting or monetization systems. Over time, this led to:

媒体飞轮 #18 – 缺乏技术能力和容量：如果没有资本或数据洞察力，出版商很难雇用和留住开发先进的广告定位或货币化系统所需的技术人才。随着时间的推移，这导致了：

To mitigate these risks, media companies pursued two strategies:

为了减轻这些风险，媒体公司采取了两种策略：

Both approaches resulted in confused user experiences and split loyalty, further reducing audience engagement and profitability. Users stopped coming directly to publisher platforms, instead migrating to search engines, social media, or even AI platforms like ChatGPT.

这两种方法都会导致用户体验混乱和忠诚度分裂，进一步降低受众参与度和盈利能力。用户不再直接访问发布商平台，而是迁移到搜索引擎、社交媒体，甚至 ChatGPT 等人工智能平台。

Outdated Methods: Without the right supporting technology, media leaders ended up managing their digital businesses with offline management structures:

过时的方法：如果没有正确的支持技术，媒体领导者最终只能通过线下管理结构来管理其数字业务：

This lack of adaptability makes it impossible to win a dynamic game with static business rules. Over time, the result is:

这种适应性的缺乏使得无法用静态的业务规则赢得动态的游戏。随着时间的推移，结果是：

What’s at Stake

有什么危险

News and advertising are a fundamental human need. Both user jobs won’t go away. The unknown question is who will serve these needs in the coming decades.

新闻和广告是人类的基本需求。这两项用户工作都不会消失。未知的问题是谁将在未来几十年内满足这些需求。

Apple’s App Store classifies X and Reddit as news products.

Apple 的 App Store 将 X 和 Reddit 归类为新闻产品。

Elon Musk is doubling down on this positioning.

埃隆·马斯克正在加倍努力实现这一定位。

Most media publishers need to take on this wicked problem head on by addressing various structural issues identified in the vicious loop at the same time. I’ve highlighted at least one path forward in my Neiman Labs Prediction for 2025.

大多数媒体出版商需要通过同时解决恶性循环中发现的各种结构性问题来直面这个邪恶的问题。我在 Neiman Labs 对 2025 年的预测中至少强调了一条前进道路。

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Curious how I’m managing to write? I created a CustomGPT for myself, which serves as my go-to editor and audits my first draft. Here’s the link—give it a spin! It’s free to use. https://chatgpt.com/g/g-hgI62sWPm-mediaflywheels-review-opinion-pieces

好奇我是如何写作的吗？我为自己创建了一个 CustomGPT，它作为我的首选编辑器并审核我的初稿。这是链接——试一试！它可以免费使用。 https://chatgpt.com/g/g-hgI62sWPm-mediaflywheels-review-opinion-pieces

Want to republish it? This post was released under CC BY-ND — you can republish it as is with the following credit and backlinks: ‘Originally published by Ritvvij Parrikh on The Times of India. The author retains the copyright and any other ancillary rights to the post.

想要重新发布吗？这篇文章是在 CC BY-ND 下发布的——您可以按原样重新发布，并带有以下来源和反向链接：“最初由 Ritvvij Parrikh 在《印度时报》上发布。”作者保留该帖子的版权和任何其他附属权利。