I was very impressed to read Jeffrey Cole’s comments on the future of the newspaper business last week. Mr. Cole, director of the Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication said,
For the first time in 60 years, newspapers are back in the breaking news business, except now their delivery method is electronic and not paper. Since the beginning of radio, newspapers have not been able to compete with broadcasting for delivery of immediate news. But in a digital world, newspapers can compete at least as effectively for breaking news delivery with broadcast media. On the Web, newspapers are live, and they can supplement their coverage with audio, video, and the invaluable resources of their vast archives. And, they already have talented teams of reporters and editors who can deliver the news.
The key to newspapers’ success, will be making bold moves entirely into the digital realm, and building business models that allow them to thrive online.
For those of you that argue otherwise (John Brummett, Jay Grelen, Frank Fellone, Gene Lyons . . . I could continue), consider this: the Digital Future Project found that Internet users read online newspapers for 53 minutes per week, the highest level thus far in the Digital Future studies. In contrast, Internet users in 2007 reported 41 minutes per week reading online newspapers.
I’m on the record already and I won’t restate it all. If you don’t want to listen to me, fine. But listen to this guy.
God, I love [obstinate] newspapers. You’re gonna miss ‘em when they’re gone.
A Thunderous Declaration from Max Brantley
In blog post referencing Jack Shafer’s story on a hush-hush meeting of newspaper publishers that may or may not have violated federal antitrust laws, Max Brantley of the Arkansas Times declares,
Somehow, the Ark. Times wasn’t invited to the confab. Free yesterday; free today; free tomorrow. That’s our position.