Jeff Jarvis is a pretty smart man. I don’t always agree with him, but I do think this is a good point.

Media is now, as my brother and tech tutor would say, “platform agnostic.” In particular, my interest lies with the news and information facet of media. The newspaper I now work for has a passion for that agnosticism, even if it doesn’t state that as a goal. The paper product is strong, the Web site’s fullness shows it’s not an afterthought, and it has blogs and podcasts (which themselvs have RSS feeds). The site even has a text-only version for no-nonsense surfing.

It provides the same quality information consistently, regardless of the channel through which that information is provided. As an information source, it gets out of the way and lets the information speak for itself - while showing me a few ads in the process (remember, those ads pay my salary).

Not that I’m trying to puff up my employer; the point is, it doesn’t need my help. Many news providers still think in their own medium, be it TV, magazine, newspaper, whatever. That’s brick-wall thinking. The St. Petersburg Times doesn’t think that way, and that’s one reason I’m here.

A lot of older media companies use people in expensive suits with six-figure salaries to try to triangulate the focus of younger consumers’ attentions. That’s a nice idea. But, when it comes right down to it, we want their information. All they have to do is (unobtrusively) give it to us when, where and in what fashion we want it.

This wild strategy called “service” will build trust in the product (in this case, information), and encourage news consumers to build a relationship with the provider.