It would be difficult to argue with Hannah Rudman (p16) that interactivity is the watchword of the 21st century. The digital future has surely arrived. For some she mentions, the benefits of this are self-evident. Dell must be rubbing its hands in glee that its online brainstorming website has netted it more than 3,000 new product ideas, at a fraction of the cost of retaining new product development consultants and holding an interminable round of focus groups. Tate provides a fine example of how the cultural sector can harness social networking websites for audience development, and its world-wide reputation means it is well placed to attract commercial support for any projects that harness the never-ending stream of new technologies and solutions currently gripping the imagination of the online public. But The Guardians story is different. Among news publishers it is at the forefront of online developments, but that position has come at a price and it isnt yet clear how that price will be paid.
The companys national newspapers division has just recorded a £16m loss, marginally better than the previous year, and it does not appear to have yet discovered the financial model that will sustain its printed product alongside its digital offering. And if this is a problem for the mighty Guardian, it will undoubtedly present challenges for arts organisations seeking to digitise their artistic products at the same time as delivering their live experiences. Online audiences, participants, commentators and researchers have all come to expect their digital information, relationships and entertainment to be available to them free of charge. Great for organisations that can afford the long-term investment in the people and expertise required to enable them to keep pace with consumers seemingly insatiable desire for new online gimmicks. Less great for those who struggle to make ends meet on relatively fixed budgets, and for whom investment in the digital future will undoubtedly mean having to divert funds from the live present. Watching the great media barons slugging it out trying to turn a profit from their ever-expanding virtual empires may provide arts organisations with food-for-thought as they develop their own models to enable them to benefit from this brave new world.
Liz Hill
Consultant Editor
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