The blockchain is simply a tool to re-architect the relationship between the subscriber and the publication, said Daisy Alioto, founder of Web3 media outlet Dirt.
On April 7, community-owned Web3 crypto news show company Coinage put forth its first governance vote. The proposal asked community members of Coinage‘s decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) to decide whether or not they should move 10% of the DAO’s treasury into the meme coin DOGE.
“Coinage haz much money in ETH but DOGE go ⬆️. Does DOGE haz much fortune？ Go wayz up？” the proposal reads.
The vote closed after 72 hours, with 60% (140 votes) against the investment and 40% (94 votes) in favor.
Zack Guzman, co-founder of Trustless Media, the company behind Coinage, voted in favor of the DOGE investment idea but was happy with the outcome because it showed that Coinage was truly decentralized.
“I think the first vote has proven this decentralized model works, where even I didn't get what I wanted,” Guzman told CoinDesk.
Decentralized media has become a prominent point of conversation among Web2 and Web3-native journalists alike. While covering cryptocurrency news is one thing, using Web3 tools to expand journalistic practices is another.
Some builders in the space feel that media distribution has become too focused on numbers, traffic and ad sales instead of creating content for its audience. Rather than publishing to generate revenue, what if the content was created with readers in mind, publications were co-governed by its audience and the nature of the media industry became more collaborative？
Several journalists who have spent years in Web2 media are seeking to shake up the industry and usher in a new Web3 era.
Where is Web3 media going？
While the content may not always be focused on crypto, Web3 media is primarily emerging from publications native to the space. Still, the incentives for Web2 media companies to start experimenting with technologies such as NFTs and DAOs are growing.
Theres already a movement brewing among major media publications to implement Web3 technologies into their content distribution methods.
In February, mens magazine GQ announced its first NFT collection. The GQ3 Issue 001: Change Is Good collection included a magazine subscription, GQ merchandise and an invitation to its party that was held last week during NFT.NYC.
Other publications that have dipped their toes into NFTs include CNN‘s now-defunct Vault NFT marketplace as well as Time Magazine’s TIMEPieces collection that allows readers to collect digital artworks that serve as a membership to the publication.
As more Web3 media outlets continue to spring up, more Web2 publications may be motivated to make the switch to stay competitive and bring added value to their audiences.