Purpose-Driven Media
Purpose-driven Media = media that are not primarely driven by profit, but by a different goal.
Purpose-driven Media are part of the shift towards Quarternary Economics
Description
From the New York Times:
"These are new-media ventures that leave the competition scratching their heads because they don't really aim to compete in the first place; their creators are merely taking advantage of the economics of the online medium to do something that they feel good about. They would certainly like to cover their costs and maybe make a buck or two, but really, they're not in it for the money. By purely commercial measures, they are illogical. If your name were, say, Rupert or Sumner, they would represent the kind of terror that might keep you up at night: death by smiley face.
Probably the best-known practitioner is Craigslist.org, the online listing site. Although it is routinely described as a competitor with — and the bane of — newspaper classified ads, the site is mostly a free listings service that acts as a community resource. When the company contemplates imposing fees for using its site in a particular city, as it has recently in New York, it does so cautiously and thoughtfully, as a means to weed out real estate brokers who are abusing the site by posting their ads over and over.
The twist about Craigslist and its ilk is that their egalitarianism could make them very valuable someday — although Craigslist's founder, Craig Newmark, has proclaimed no interest in cashing in. EBay, no doubt sensing the commercial potential, bought a 25 percent stake from a former employee last year. Other examples are the "for sale by owner" Web sites that have cropped up across the country, in which people can sell their homes at a cost that is a small fraction of the usual broker's fee." (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/business/yourmoney/02frenzy.html?)