"RSS AND NEWS AGGREGATORS: OPPORTUNITY OR THREAT?"

Good presentation by The Guardian's Simon Waldman to the World Editor's Forum in Seoul:

There is only one thing you need to understand about RSS and news aggregators.

It explains why this such an important and at times such a difficult issue for us.

It is this:

None of this has been developed to make traditional publishers’ lives any easier or our businesses any healthier. It is all there for our readers – and it does a very good job for them.

The result is that the world of RSS and aggregation is fraught with complexity, but understanding it and coping with it is, I believe, one of the most critical parts of a successful long term online publishing strategy.
.....
And I see three critical issues we are going to face with RSS.

The first is what’s happening to our readers.

The second is what’s happening to our content.

And the third – is what’s going to happen to our classified ads.
(full post)