Elon Musk is currently leading the mediashapers poll. Why? As one industry insider put it…… “because like it or not, Twitter still shapes the media conversation and ownership of the platform gives Musk an influence out of proportion to his capabilities.” Opinion is divided as to whether Twitter will actually survive at all (“This might be the first major digital platform to collapse”), but the drama being played out there “could influence the direction of media for years to come.”
The mediashapers poll is currently being run amongst the readers of InPublishing – industry insiders across all disciplines (from editorial to commercial) and all platforms (from print to digital pureplays). Who does the media industry itself see as the key individuals impacting on the overall shape of the business in 2023. And why?
The poll is still open and live, but already some key trends are emerging:
- In terms of the big “media mogul” names, Musk is definitely centre-stage. Still there, but in the background, are people like Murdoch. Yet completely off the radar currently are Zuckerberg and Bezos – individuals who dominated the first poll back in 2021.
- Coming out of the shadows are politicians (Putin and Zelensky most prominently) – adept users of media – and legislators (for example, Lucy Frazer, Culture Secretary) who are setting the legal context for online safety, data protection and commercial access to the consumer.
- Individual influencers and content creators are lining up.
- Yet unsurprisingly, the impact of AI is now a massive concern to the industry. The names behind the faceless tech include Sam Altman (founder and CEO of OpenAI) and Sundar Pichai (CEO of Google).
Jim Bilton, Managing Director of Wessenden Marketing, which is analysing the responses: “Although we are still part-way through the polling process, some key trends are already emerging. Traditional “media moguls” are receding. Individual consumer influencers are growing. The political and legislative context is becoming more important, at the same time as the active manipulation of news is now so blatant and powerful in how our whole world works. Surprising by their absence so far, are the executives who are meant to be running the industry – Zillah Byng-Thorne, Carolyn McCall and Katherine Viner all featured in 2021. There is a general sense that the industry is fragmenting and spinning out of control.”
The mediashapers poll was originally launched by InPublishing and Wessenden Marketing in 2021 as a bit of lockdown fun. Yet it quickly became clear that the media business was being shaped in business terms by a handful of people. Also, the perceptions of media – among both politicians and the public at large - were being influenced by these characters – for both good and ill.
Jim Bilton: “At a time when the role of media in society is a hot topic, understanding the direction of travel and who is influencing that direction has never been more important. And who should know better than the people who actually work in the industry itself. Yet the poll is still open and the results may change. Can Musk really win in the end?”
The poll closes on Friday March 17.
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