There’s no doubt that we need some new media models, if only because the old one is dieing an economic death of 1000 cuts.
LOL... except we both know it's not funny, unfortunately.
2,113 posted on Wednesday, January 04, 2012 3:08:46 PM by Slings and Arrows: “There’s no doubt that we need some new media models, if only because the old one is dieing an economic death of 1000 cuts.”
Definitely right.
I've watched the collapse of the traditional print media model over the last 25 years from the inside, and it's not pretty.
Lots of what's wrong can be described as the logical consequences of a non-competitive socialistic mentality in which there are few incentives to succeed and sometimes actual **DISINCENTIVES** to save money or be more productive. Communism didn't work in the Soviet Union for its industrial production and we shouldn't expect a system of media monopolies to work much better in America.
However, even well-run conservative newspapers are faced with a technological crisis. I saw that in the now-bankrupt Freedom Communications (owner of the Colorado Springs Gazette and Orange County Register). The Washington Times is in major trouble, and the Wall Street Journal would be in trouble if it weren't for Rupert Murdoch's decision to buy the paper for its inherent value covering the financial markets before economics tore apart its newsgathering ability.
I believe the model I'm dealing with works at a small local level, but I have no solutions for the economic side of how to run a metro newspaper with the need for dozens or hundreds of reporters.
Something must be done, and I have confidence that long term the free market will find solutions, but things will be brutal in the short term and probably for a long time down the road.
Anyway, back to work... a police chase just ended in a car wreck and I need to go see what happened.