KTVB colleagues Tony Courtwright, Aletia Powers and I often talk about how smart it would be for Google to buy a TV station or station group (and I swear it’s not just because of the free snack rooms). Conde’ Nast Porfolio looks at a simple question: who would make the ideal newspaper owner. The conclusion? Google’s philanthropic arm Google.org:
The ideal newspaper owner, in my view, would be a fan of profits, yet not profit-oriented; have a strong commitment to making the world a better place through the dissemination of information; and have loads of money. Who best fits the bill? Easy: Google.org. Paging Larry Brilliant!
We’ve seen a myraid of efforts by Google to bridge the Internet with old technology: selling radio ads and print ads to name two. At what point does it make sense for Google to take the plunge and purchase a newspaper or TV station? We all talk about how to capitalize on the Internet and the new future media faces. What better way to tackle that challenge then to be have an Internet-centric organization like Google steer the ship?