I can’t help but notice that more and more news publishers have begun pushing their articles (content) out to hosted platforms like Facebook Instant Articles (FIA), Apple News, Medium.com, and – if you think of Google.com as a publishing platform – Google AMP.

Strange as it may seem, this might be a win-win-win situation for all stakeholders.

1. For consumers it means a better reading experience. Pages load “instantly” when read in Facebook, AMP, Medium’s native app,  or Apple News.
2. For news publishers it means they can focus more on producing content rather than building technology stacks to publish/host the content. That means the cost to publisher content decreases.
3. For advertisers, it means increased reach because Google, Apple, and Facebook are likely to favor news articles that are optimized for thier platform. In fact, some publishers have even begun letting Facebook sell ads on their behalf – for a 30% cut.

And here’s a thought…

Would consumers be willing to pay for a “Netflix for News”? Instead of paying a separate subscription for the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, GQ, Runners World, etc. – it sure would be nice if I just could just pay one online service and could read articles from all of the above.

Happy Reading!

At least once or twice a year I feel compelled to go back and rewatch the seminal TED talk given by Simon Sinek back in 2009 titled: “Start With Why?”.

The first time I watched it – and every time since – it profoundly changed my life and my way of thinking. A bold statement given that it’s just a YouTube video. But it really has shaped virtually every aspect of my life – simply because it provided me with the lens and a context to view the things that I do in my everyday life. It’s a guiding compass.

My own version of “Start With Why?” is “Begin at the beginning…”. I’ve been saying that for literally as long as I can remember.

It allows me to center myself, become present in the moment, and practice “mindfulness”. So whenever I get stuck on a problem, or get confused, become upset, lose my keys, or need clarity…I go back and I…begin at the beginning.

And it always starts with a simple question “WHY?”