A Rebuttal to The Concept of FREE, by Chris Anderson

Chris Anderson, Editor of Wired
(James Duncan Davidson, Flickr)

Chris Anderson is the celebrated author of two books and the editor-in-chief of Wired magazine. In his book, Free: the Future of a Radical Price, suggests a new paradigm for business: “FREE.” He believes that, in his terms,  "free" will always “win.” His vision is a world where all information is free.

While that is slightly thrilling ultimately, we all know, it is impossible. Money makes the world go 'round. Someone has to pay the bills, after all - and there are many ways that it can play out, conventional and otherwise.

Take for example the book, Free, which retails for $29.99. Content is only as free as it can be. We must also pay for the method of delivery, be it paper, electronic or DVD. 

In his paradigm, Anderson believes that “information wants to be free.” That adage especially applies to the world of journalism in the digital age, he says, and there are many examples that would seem to bear him out.

Truly the citizen journalist has made his debut and we all felt the impact. Anyone can blog or pontificate on any subject from any point of view. Sharp writers will understand the fundamentals of SEO. They may understand social media  and viral marketing. It may be possible that they are re-tweeted, shared on Facebook and found in StumbledUpon.

We don’t have to look for news. It assaults us – everywhere. It’s in buses and elevators, in our email and on our homepage. We will never go back to waiting for the evening news. That would be as archaic as waiting for the evening paper.

But there is an old adage that I rely on for reality checks – “You get what you pay for.” Another old saying rapidly follows: “There are no free lunches.”

Socialnomics, a film on the power of Social Media

As for the money aspect of citizen journalism, well, we need only look as far as S-968, the Protect IP Act of 2011. The legislature smells a cash cow and they are looking to grab a share. To do so, they use stealth techniques, what I call the "Gotcha" laws. 


This would make any unlicensed use of copyrighted material on the internet grounds for legal proceedings, even if used in social networking sights and personal YouTube videos. It would require that the infringer is blocked by the provider, whichever social media site is being used. 

Sounds fair until we look beneath the benevolent bill title. This would be a boondoggle for the Trial Lawyers Association; work is slow in this economy. They would go to work suing people like you and me if your puppy plays to your favorite rock band on your YouTube video. You could be sued for that. And forget about "Open Source" photos. Again, the effort is to restrict everything and charge for anything they can.

For although anyone can blog it is true, it is also true that there are market forces that go beyond "free" that are in play. Real information does not come easily or cheaply. As Malcolm Gladwell (the New Yorker, July 2009) put it, the consumer understands that there is a difference between "cheap" and "free." Unfortunately, the advent of citizen journalism is also the end of formal writing skills. So much of it is so poorly written that it is often too tedious to translate the jargon into something understandable and just way too much trouble.

Good writing and good journalism are born of a concentration of energy and time; sifted with experience and spiced with insight. And then there is the presentation; good information is well packaged and highly digestible. At this level it is information that is valuable. It is sought after and desirable. 

Giving away information has its place. There is a market for free information. Like YouTube videos that teach Excel, though, there’s a catch. You need the infrastructure to make the information useful. And that costs money. We, the public, relish the free marketplace of ideas. 

So, why do people continue to read The New York Times?  A one-week subscription to their digital edition is less than a dollar; but thereafter, its $8.75 a week. It's the old bait and switch. Why? Because they can. The news paper industry is losing steam, but it is going digital.  Eventually, newspapers will come to understand that their content is more valuable online than in print. And eventually, advertising will follow. It is probably not that far off. More people can get to it much more easily. But it remains to be seen if the paper will disappear. At this moment, I think not for a long time.

Content, either digital or printed, is plentiful. Trends tend to generate a renaissance of filler stories – like “The Little Black Dress,” or “Quick Meals for Kids.” There is an abundance of such drivel. We’re coming up on the "Year in Review", followed by "New Year’s Resolutions" and "Winter Activities for Kids." They are common birdcage liners.

But the healthy human organism thirsts for understanding and knowledge. I believe that we are hard-wired to seek deeper understanding and to appreciate original thinking. Thus, we will pay for the stories that dig deeper and expose new insights. They make us better people.

Granted, the superficial nature of pop culture lends itself to most of those stories. However, there is a great niche for specialization, including good writing. And even that is translated into ever-so-many formats, be it DVD, CD or tablet. There is a healthy interest, even if it continues to shrink. But historically, great artists and writers have rarely been rich. Their work tends to be most appreciated posthumously.

Perhaps the most valuable commodity on the market is having new ideas and then, having the ability to make that new information understandable. 

Frankly, what thrills me is when I can read a new idea and really grasp it. Wow. That is worth paying for. And if, for example, there is pertinent information that I want, you bet I will pay for it. My iPad is stocked with books into the next decade. The bottom line is that a good writer is a beautiful thing. There will always be a market for good writing, information, knowledge and ideas for the right audience. The rest of us can write our blogs, but we better keep our day jobs.