I don’t know if you’ve ever been to dinner with people envovled in old media, but after spending a few weeks interviewing them for a project I’m working, I’ve learned two things. Old media is going die, and everyone who either works for a newspaper or in television will tell you that old media is going to die at least seven times before you’ve gotten to dessert. This week I offer proof to the contrary with applications available from old media companies that could put any new journalism start up to shame.
We begin with one of my favorite old media powerhouses. They have repeatedly defined the national conversation, in politics, science, and public opinion. What’s best of all is that they do it with both a dead tree magazine and the lovable TIME.com. TIME Mobile for Windows Phone does keeps the tradition alive with access to the latest blogs, video, and photos. To make matters even better there’s no charge, and no advertisements to be seen.
Sure national magazines are excellent and all, but how do you find a bigger monument to days gone by than the 10-ton gorilla that is The New York Times. Sure after 25 articles you’re forced into staring out the outside of a pay wall, but we can’t think of one subscription to an old media company besides them. The applications feature list is as impressive as they’re in-depth pieces, with support for social sharing, news alerts, video, Times Blogs, and cached offline reading for when an internet connection is scarce. (A situation I’m going through as I type this.) NYTimes for Windows Phone is free, and has no advertisements, but does require a pay wall for reading anything over those 25 free articles.
While it’s almost a certainty that the newspapers and magazines are headed for some kind of big shake up, CNN is the last part of the empire to be sailing along without an iceberg in sight. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not for the constant repeating of the same news items all day, but the creator of the 24hr news cycle is long due for some kind of event, (Because nothing says Breaking News quite like a Disney World changing it’s logo.) has made an excellent news app for Windows Phone. We’re talking international, tech, and entertainment headlines, breaking news alerts, (Remember the difference is in the ears.) and the ability to submit videos and photos to the news channel’s iReports tip center. CNN for Windows Phone is also free and has no advertisements.
That’s another Windows Phone App Flow for the record books folks. Be sure to drop us a line on what apps you would like to see featured in the column on Twitter, @harlemS. Until next, that’s the way it is!