Posted on 03/16/2009 3:02:53 PM PDT by sswenviron
To sum up this considerable rant, I don't want to see the local fishwrap go the way of the VCR. I want a vibrant, unbiased print media where every politician should fear for his seat. I want a media that will not blame the mortgage meltdown solely on industry but also on the Chris Dodd's and Barney Franks of the world who made the laws that allowed this to happen. I want to pick up the Inquirer and read a piece by Ed Rendell one day, Bill Kristol the next and Michael Smerconish the next. I want to read about every scandal written with the exact same gusto--the Dodd scandal investigated with the same zeal as the Abramoff scandal.
(Excerpt) Read more at environmentalrepublican.blogspot.com ...
Of course it is....Newspapers are run on the advertising $$$ within. The Internet has taken advertising away; unless, for example, in a small town local newspaper which is still on the counter when you go into the diner for breakfast. You don't know anyone, you don't have to talk to anyone and can read between the sheets of newsprint. The bigger state papers all wannabe national news and that you can get on any website mostly for free. That is where all the money goes that the NYTimes now takes in-their website. The Internet became the end of the news in hand. Craig's List, eBay, Yahoo, Amazon or a specific market like a Bikes.com. The most eyes, mean the most sales. Forget the local cheapskate down the street that wants to steal your item for nothing, the buyer in another state will often pay you the most. It's as easy as step #1, step #2, or step #3, add pictures for a small dollar amount and it's sold.
Advertising left which was the grease that ran the presses.
I think the cardinal sin the newspapers committed is not understanding the reason people bought their product. Boil it all down, and it’s information. Because newspapers were a primary tool for conveying information for many years, they were able to sell ads. Look at Google, it’s the same basic model.
It’s a classic “innovators dliemma” - the new technology beame “good enough” and the old one was too busy perfecting the art of putting ink on paper to even know what hit them.
Newspapers are the Polaroid in a world of digital cameras.
But it is a 'hard copy'; how many articles on the web just get sucked into a memory hole?
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