Transcendent Journalism

Reuters does not yet have a branch in heaven, but it does have one on an island in Second Life.  People desperately want to make something of this, I think it's just fun.  Adam Pasick, a Reuters reporter, gets to open his own branch Reuters office in a virtual world.  This is decidedly less stressful for Adam than the Beijing bureau was for my friend Christiaan.

Their toe-in-the-water for on-line communities was deliberately chosen.  Says the NYT:

Reuters would get more exposure in the most popular online fantasy game, World of Warcraft, which has more than seven million subscribers, but that game’s players are decidedly less civilized. “It would be more fun, but Reuters would be more likely to end up in a dragon’s belly,” Mr. Castronova said.

This is certainly true, but I wonder if this is even remotely successful, how long Reuters could hold out?  Second Life is decidedly civilized but with about 1/8th the users, WoW is much more lucrative.  More importantly, though, it's more newsworthy.  WoW's scandals are much grittier and nasty that Second Life.  Exposes of specific guilds would be of vital interest.

In essence, by opening up the Second Life bureau, they have started virtual CNBC.  But World of Warcraft would be decidedly more like early FOX.

Imagine, Guilds going deep with embedded reporters.

So Nancy, how much of a community indicator is it when the press shows up?

Technorati Tags: wow, world of warcraft. second life, reuters, community indicators

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