information food chain

n.

1. The progression of data from bits (raw data) to information (processed data) to knowledge (assimilated data). 2. A spectrum that covers technological prowess (neophyte to expert), access to information (unwired to wired), or speed of delivery in media (quarterly journals to CNN).

Example Citation:

Are newspapers a vital medium for a new millennium or a musty relic of old communication? Are we still central to the lives of readers, or have we slipped down in the information food chain?

— Editorial, "Newspapers Evolving to Satisfy Today's Market," The Times-Picayune, June 22, 1997

Earliest Citation:

''Time is always going to be a newsmagazine. We created this form of journalism. It would be ludicrous to try to do something else,'' says Muller. ''We're faithful to the journalism we've been producing.''

Muller already has engineered a change in that journalism. In what he calls the information food chain, newsweeklies come after Cable News Network, radio, nightly network newscasts and newspapers. To remain relevant in an era of instant news and myriad media, Time and other newsweeklies have to offer a twist, he says.

— Pat Guy, "Magazine tries to be more functional," USA Today, April 13, 1992

Related Words:

attention economics

information foraging

information scent

informavore

Categories:

Data

Technology (General)