BusinessWeek recently ran this story about the Orange County Register outsourcing some content duties to India. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Good content will be increasingly in demand. Consumers and businesses want and need it, yet many will insist on paying the absolute lowest price.

For now, the OC Register seems to be outsourcing mostly the “mechanical” copy functions, such as editing and proofing. Yet it may only be a short time before offshore firms figure out a way to deliver acceptable original content creation. In fact, we’ve had several clients explore this. While none have been fully satisfied, I suspect it is only a matter of time until an acceptable offering is developed.

The challenge for offshore companies when it comes to original content creation is not physical proximity. Good content can be created from anywhere; it is contextual proximity and having a shared mindset with the reader. That’s a whole different story--as anyone who has called a customer service desk staffed with offshore personnel can attest to.