Do we really want to save our newspapers?

[David Oates]

I found a recent Time Magazine article very compelling. The article discussed the irony of how newspapers around the country were dying in record numbers despite the fact that such media outlets have never been more popular, according to a recent Pew Research Center study.

Here's the catch - that same study noted that most readers prefer to get their news online. So while credible journalism has never seen as high of a demand as they currently do, newspapers aren't adapting their business model quick enough to respond.

Think of it this way - the Pony Express didn't go out of business because no one valued mail anymore, they just wanted a more efficient delivery system. In doing so, consumers actually got better service and more mail than at any time previously. The same paradigm holds true for newspapers. If they can successfully evolve to leveraging the Internet for its full news potential, they will not only survive, but in fact thrive. There are some like the New York Times who are in the process of doing this. There will undoubtedly be other newspapers that will need to be pushed into modifying their business in a similar fashion. And sadly, there will be some traditional papers that will resist this inevitability, and thus cease to exist.

However, I don't believe the demise of some newspapers is in and of itself a bad thing. So before jumping on the charity wagon by buying more than one print edition at the local Barnes & Noble, try bookmarking quality news coverage that matters from you from Internet media companies that can provide it and much more. Trust me, you'll be doing newspapers a favor!

[John Schnack]

Totally agree, Oatesy. I wouldn't be surprised if, eventually, each major metropolitan market (NY, LA, CHI, etc.) had just one ethere were one large daily printed paper, which would cover broad world and national news. Web-based, possibly non-profit news organizations (e.g., VoiceOfSanDiego.com) would take advantage of the Internet's rich-media capabilities and cover the areas the large dailies miss (sports, in-depth features, local news, investigative reports).

[Jason Aplin]

David...an excellent topic that all businesses should give an ear to.

In 2004 I started a company with four other friends that offered newspapers a commercial API to put their reader's photo's on the Web. It was the secret sauce that Flickr missed and was received extremely well by E.W. Scripps and others. One of the greatest challenges we faced was in implementing it across all of the different websites that were owned by the parent companies. None of them operated from a single platform or had any consistencies of the site structure. The knowledge that the industry was dying was already rising above a whisper and the newspaper executives were already making a play for a hail mary plan. That company is Maroon Ventures and the subsidiaries of that company are in the trenches trying their best to adapt their industries model into more of a social play.

A local favorite that isn't related, nbcsandiego.com is the first property to get it right in my mind with a full website redesign, user generated content, and a strong play towards being included in the mobile environment.

Net Net, the ship is listing and if newspapers don't make significant changes to add the necessary technology & strategies, they're next in the dead pool.

[James E. McClafferty]

I embrace technology and all its benefits and I consider myself very technically open-minded. I am an early adopter of new technologies. Having said that, I lament the move to online-only publications. I like the portability that printed media provides. Electronic media is not there yet. I own an Amazon Kindle. Great technology and a fantastic tool for reading when on the road. I have read countless novels on it, but zero newspapers or magazines. I viewed samples and they did not adequately recreate the print experience. To put it bluntly, the graphics sucked, but the kindle was not intended to show graphics and color. I have also been a PC Magazine subscriber for 20 years. I look forward to the magazine's arrival. In January, they went to an all electronic distribution - no more printed magazine. I received the email with a link to the February issue on January 31st. I have yet to read the magazine. I clicked on the link, installed the Zinio software to read the magazine, got distracted and never went back. I will be cancelling my subscription. I do not want to read my PC Magazine online. I want to hold it in my hand while I sit on the couch. The same holds true for the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal.

Some publications I prefer to hold in my hands, others I am fine reading electronically. If I am given only one format choice that doesn't fit my needs for a particular publication, I may stop reading it altogether.