A short while ago, our own Florian Cramer was interviewed by Germany's well-known mediablog 'Carta'. Florian is head of the Piet Zwart Institute Master Media Design and Communication: Networked Media and lector of the 'Communication in a Digital Age' research programme.

Within the German media landscape, a fierce public debate about the future of news media rages between bloggers and magazines. Florian believes both parties should take note of the 'Dutch relaxedness' ['Holländische Gelassenheit'; FC].

The 'little ones' (such as bloggers) and the 'big fish' (like Google) could profit hugely from new developments in the world of media, while middle-sized newspapers, magazines, publishers and writers could well go belly-up. Written media now faces the same developments and challenges as the music- and film industry did earlier.

Furthermore, Florian believes 'paid content' could work if journalists (like their Anglo-American colleagues) go for more in-depth journalism and less 'columnism'. The latter is done just as well by bloggers.

Finally, the difference between media and media collection will disappear: Google Books and the iPod were made as information gatherers from the onset. Florian says: “Publishers who opt for single work, are old-fashioned.”

Interested and fluent in German? Have a look at the complete interview. Want to know more about our master programme and research programme?Go to the Piet Zwart Institute website.