Speaking at an event in 2005 Newser-founder Michael Wolff (@MichaelWolffNYC) is famously quoted as saying that the traditional media can’t hold an audience because its content is shit, although he denied it today when he was interviewed during a keynote session by Emily Bell, director of digital content at the Guardian, at its Changing Media Summit.

But nonetheless Wolff’s prognosis for the future of the traditional media industry was brutal.

“It can’t go on without radical transformation […]. Very few people in the [traditional] media today will have a future in the media. There’s a line where technology meets [the editorial process] and people aren’t going to get over it. Its industrial transformation […] accelerated by the recession,” said Wolff.

He said that every big city newspaper in the US is either in bankruptcy or will be within the next 12 months. New media companies will combine technology and editorial skills to deliver a product at much lower cost he said. And that’s crucial because consumers will pay considerable less.

Wolff cited Politco as an example of a six-person start-up that has successfully taken on the Washington Post as the main source of political reporting in Washington.

“The Washington Post is a $1.4 billion organisation whereas Politico is $15 million. The future is smaller less profitable news organisations,” said Wolff.