Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Radical
Here is a radical call to kill print editions of newspapers and to publish only online. The blogger notes that it has been done already and the future of some news publishing operations depends on cutting costs to the bone. He is pitiless in his description of journalists who fight to save newsprint. It is sarcasm born from conversion to the online world himself.
Given the continued accelerated decline of newspaper circulation in the US, his point of view may be correct for smaller newspapers. Larger papers will find a steady state of readership at some point and will continue, but it will be difficult. They won't be as profitable as they once were. Most news publishing operations still haven't found an economic model that works online. Until they do, newsrooms will keep shrinking.
It is an unpleasant time to be a journalist in America.
Given the continued accelerated decline of newspaper circulation in the US, his point of view may be correct for smaller newspapers. Larger papers will find a steady state of readership at some point and will continue, but it will be difficult. They won't be as profitable as they once were. Most news publishing operations still haven't found an economic model that works online. Until they do, newsrooms will keep shrinking.
It is an unpleasant time to be a journalist in America.
Comments:
There's great tension between bloggers/social media and people who work in newsprint. Newspaper people, who are also blogging, say they don't go to blogs for information because they aren't credible. And bloggers say they are just as credible as newspaper people and because of the tightness of the online community even have others to keep them in check as a correction page does for the paper. Bloggers also say they are able to dive more deeply with more feeling in stories online. And a lot of newspaper people feel like they are covering too many things and there are fewer of them.
I sense an us against them theme here.
As newsrooms shrink,newspapers are still trying to compete and make money online. It'll be interesting to see how it all unfolds.
I sense an us against them theme here.
As newsrooms shrink,newspapers are still trying to compete and make money online. It'll be interesting to see how it all unfolds.
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