Last time I mused over 'decisions, decisions for the media mogul of tomorrow' - presupposing there would be some!

A favourite game of the media world 20 years ago was to guess which six, of the then twenty, big groups would emerge globally on top; again, presupposing there would be groups, competing together, essentially doing the same thing.

The twin functions of historic publishing have been editing content, and distributing it. With the inexorable rise of online distribution, the latter function is becoming redundant. More interestingly, Google is a working example of how the former function, too, may eventually become automated. An editing machine of power unimaginable less than 10 years ago, it is starting to cause serious worry in the minds of not only academic publishers, but traditional book publishers as well. What will the landscape look like after ten more years of developing clever algorithms, driven by serious financial incentives?

The work of The St James Partnership team has been to talk to media owners, large and small, and we sense everyday the joy that owning media brings. But, 20 years into the future, will we still see the media mogul of old? Or will it just be Google and their ilk - not to forget the good old state-funded Aunty! - with all of us posting our tuppence worth up on to the net, just as I am doing now!

Best wishes,

Niko Jaakkola