Digital Interactive Media Response to Old Media Cost Cutting
Traditional media outlets are dramatically reducing the local based services that they offer to communities. For example, the Baton Rouge Business Report's Daily Report stated on April 28, 2009 that several local radio station DJ's would be laid off as part of Clear Channel's 590 person reduction in its national work force. On the same day, the Daily Report also stated that WVLA-TV NBC 33 and WGMB-TV Fox 44 would cease broadcasting local news from a Baton Rouge location effective immediately. These actions are service and job losses to the local community, and we must assume based upon events around the country that more such service and job reductions are coming.
Perhaps, however, this reduction in local service presents an opportunity for a new way of distributing media content. Is there a local digital interactive media response to the scaling back of traditional media in the form of television and radio stations. Can the "media" part of web based digital interactive media go beyond blogging and .mp3 file downloads to offer a new and better product to replace the receding traditional media outlets.
If Louisiana is to replace the local media jobs and services that it is losing, it will need to find a way to attract new digital interactive media talent. Louisiana Senate bill 277 is one way to get new talent capable of developing digital interactive media software products and web platforms into Louisiana. By passing Louisiana Senate Bill 277 which provide for tax credits and business incentives for digital interactive media companies doing business in Louisiana, the state will place itself in a position to not only replace the media jobs it is currently losing, but the state will also be in a position to attract many new high paying computer programing ( design and development) jobs to Louisiana.
If a larger community of web platform developers and designers are attracted to Louisiana, a new generation of web based interactive newspapers, radio stations and television stations would likely arise in Louisiana. Louisiana would be a leader of this new generation of interactive media, and these services can then be exported to other communities across the country.
Louisiana should not let the dramatic changes occurring with the business models for traditional media companies leave Louisiana with a smaller and more economically disadvantaged economy. Instead, Louisiana can grow a new and better positioned digital interactive media economy for the future.
