Monday, April 06, 2009

Special Edition – The Death of Newspapers

As a university journalism graduate, I am more than interested in what is happening to our nation’s newspapers.  In short, many are dying; many more will die in the near future.  What does that mean for all of us?

There are many reasons for this trend, too many to name here.  One is TV news.  If that is to be our main source of news, God help us all.  CNN and Fox are a joke when it comes to news.  Their version of news is about entertainment, not news.  Same with most local TV stations. Ratings, ratings, ratings.    

Another reason is Craigslist.  We all use Craigslist now for our want-ads, thereby killing a huge revenue stream for newspapers.  And, of course, the rise of news on the Internet is still another reason for the end of traditional newspapers.  I suppose I could go on, but the bottom line is that print media may have outlived its usefulness in today’s digital world.     

If you do a search on “Death of Newspapers,” you will find hundreds, if not thousands of recent articles on the subject.  I have selected a handful here, many focusing on the digital world and how it may replace newspapers.  I hope you will find it of interest.

Jim

The future of newspapers | Who killed the newspaper? | The Economist

“A GOOD newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself,” mused Arthur Miller in 1961. A decade later, two reporters from the Washington Post wrote a series of articles that brought down President Nixon and the status of print journalism soared. At their best, newspapers hold governments and companies to account. They usually set the news agenda for the rest of the media. But in the rich world newspapers are now an endangered species. The business of selling words to readers and selling readers to advertisers, which has sustained their role in society, is falling apart.

Death of newspapers

The real problem isn't that newspapers may be doomed. I would be severely disheartened if I was forced to abandon my morning ritual of sitting on my deck with a coffee and the papers, but I would no doubt get used to burning out my retinas over the screen an hour earlier than usual. As Nation columnist Eric Alterman recently argued, the real problem isn't the impending death of newspapers, but the impending death of news -- at least news as we know it.

Murdoch says papers should charge on Web

Rupert Murdoch, whose media company News Corp owns one of the few U.S. newspapers that makes people pay to read its news on the Web, said more papers will have to start doing the same to survive.

The future of newspapers: print v. digital

Five articles worth reading that relate to journalism as it transforms.

Newspaper Death Watch

This web site describes itself as "Chronicling the Decline of Newspapers and the Rebirth of Journalism." Might be worth a view

Readers share some advice for Starbucks

Even though this story is only partially about technology, I found it very interesting and thought you might also. Pay particular attention to the part Starbucks might play in replacing newspapers.

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