It will be challenging for any company that has already invested substantial resources on product development and that has built a structure around certain editorial processes to become a 100% “homeless” media organization. This doesn’t mean that companies like BuzzFeed, Vice or Vox can’t be successful in the long term. Quite the opposite. Simply they will have to adapt and explore the balance of how much content should be published directly to the platforms. Look at how Washington Post or NYT have been transforming themselves and taking advantage of different distribution channels throughout media history — from print, to internet bookmarks, SEO, social and now distributed/homeless content.

Monetization will likely come from branded content distributed in the same fashion. The debate around separation of “church and state” (editorial vs advertising) will certainly surface again.

What are your thoughts?