
Content Is King – Who Said It Better? - dredmorbius
https://lgkmarketingcc.com/content-king-said-better/
======
dredmorbius
Though it's often misattributed to Bill Gates, Sumner Redstone (who's just
died) popularised the phrase "content is king" which was used in a 1974 book,
and pre-dates even that.

The linked article frustratingly fails to identify the book, though via
Google's Ngram Viewer this seems to be J. W. Click, Russell N. Baird,
_Magazine Editing and Production_. W. C. Brown Company, 1974, 274 pages

[https://www.worldcat.org/title/magazine-editing-and-
producti...](https://www.worldcat.org/title/magazine-editing-and-
production/oclc/1009138)

[https://books.google.com/books?id=lMpHwLnvsvAC&q="content+is...](https://books.google.com/books?id=lMpHwLnvsvAC&q="content+is+king"&dq="content+is+king"&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiwiLK2q5brAhVOK80KHdbBDu0Q6AEILTAB)

Earlier appearances in the 1960s refer to educational films:

[https://www.worldcat.org/title/toward-improved-learning-a-
co...](https://www.worldcat.org/title/toward-improved-learning-a-collection-
of-significant-reprints-for-the-medical-educator/oclc/855419713)

[https://books.google.com/books?id=LiQgAQAAMAAJ&q="content+is...](https://books.google.com/books?id=LiQgAQAAMAAJ&q="content+is+king"&dq="content+is+king"&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi87Kaoq5brAhUYCs0KHdwWC2QQ6AEIMDAB)

Aguments over provenance notwithstanding, my view is that the aphorism is a
convenient bit of stage distraction attractive to media monopolists themselves
aware of the real truth: network control is emperor.

------
anonymousiam
[https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/obituaries/sumner-
redston...](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/obituaries/sumner-redstone-
dead.html)

~~~
dredmorbius
Right. Being discussed on HN here:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24135160](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24135160)

