The Identity Crisis of Newspapers
May 9, 2012
A real journalist explains that real journalism is in a bind. Gigaom ponders, “What is The Purpose of a Newspaper?” In the write up, Mathew Ingram reflects on Felix Salmon’s recent Reuters’ blog post. Salmon proposed that the New York Times, financially beleaguered as newspapers are these days, start to sell early access to breaking stories. The idea was widely panned, of course, not least because it would put potentially investment-affecting information in the hands of subscribers before the rest of us. Ingram added his voice to the critics’ chorus, but the situation did start him pondering the plight of papers.
Naval gazing is a calming activity for some. It worked on the Titanic for some passengers a century ago.
The article traces the history of newspapers, with the twin but at times conflicting goals of making money and serving the public good. While it used to be that someone interested in one or two sections of a paper bought the whole thing, now users are picking and choosing their content. Such an audience is no longer willing to pay for content they won’t read. Ingram concludes:
“Maybe the days of mass-market newspapers with a broad readership are simply coming to a close, and what we are seeing is some of those newspapers evolve into controlled-circulation subscription newsletters, who serve the interests of their small readership and nothing else. And perhaps that isn’t such a bad thing — other solutions could theoretically take their place, or at least help share the load when it comes to the public interest. But the long-term effects of that remain unknown.”
Um, isn’t a newsletter a type of newspaper? We think so. All is not lost, my friends, just evolving. No one knows what the picture will look like when (if) the pieces finally coalesce, and it can be difficult to work in a shifting landscape, but that’s life. Change can just as well lead to opportunity as to disaster; much depends on your perspective.
Cynthia Murrell, May 9, 2012
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