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How to save my newspaper
The "Time" magazine cover story, "How to Save Your Newspaper," by Walter Isaacson caught my eye because the headline was not "the demise of newspapers," nor did it ask the question, "are newspapers dying?" It didn't bemoan "the future of newspapers" or analyze "how newspapers got in the hole they're in today."
Isaacson, of course a former editor, writes that the irony in the struggles newspapers are facing is that more people are reading news -- yes, even young people -- than ever.
They're just not paying for it.
This has been my argument for some time. The shift in newspapers is not that we have become less relevant or less interesting or less important. But, because of the alternatives on the Web, what we offer is available at no cost. In fact, we are now in the trap of making more available online -- for free -- than in print for 75 cents.
(I will point out that newspapers are still the biggest bargain around. You can't get a good cup of coffee for 75 cents, and a cup of joe can't make you smile, inform you, forecast the weather, or tell you who died yesterday. That 75 cents lets you cut out the honor roll for your refrigerator, save the sports photo, and clip the recipes. Worth every penny.)
But back to more available ... I have a few fans out there who would like me to write more columns for the newspaper, but instead I write this blog. Other blogs, most more popular than mine, provide opinions and information beyond what we have room for in the print editions. Online is a larger vessel to hold what we have to say, and of course, that is its attraction, as people can search and find what interests them.
Isaacson writes that it is important for journalism to have paying readers, not rely solely on advertising for revenue. He is right: If we become a "free" environment, our responsibilities to serve readers are cheapened. What we should be looking at, Isaacson writes, is a way to let people pay for the information they get as they get it.
His lament: "... we have a world in which phone companies have accustomed kids to paying up to 20 cents when they send a text message but it seems technologically and psychologically impossible to get people to pay 10 cents for a magazine, newspaper or newscast. "
Newspapers matter. The question is: How do we quantify the value?
Isaacson, of course a former editor, writes that the irony in the struggles newspapers are facing is that more people are reading news -- yes, even young people -- than ever.
They're just not paying for it.
This has been my argument for some time. The shift in newspapers is not that we have become less relevant or less interesting or less important. But, because of the alternatives on the Web, what we offer is available at no cost. In fact, we are now in the trap of making more available online -- for free -- than in print for 75 cents.
(I will point out that newspapers are still the biggest bargain around. You can't get a good cup of coffee for 75 cents, and a cup of joe can't make you smile, inform you, forecast the weather, or tell you who died yesterday. That 75 cents lets you cut out the honor roll for your refrigerator, save the sports photo, and clip the recipes. Worth every penny.)
But back to more available ... I have a few fans out there who would like me to write more columns for the newspaper, but instead I write this blog. Other blogs, most more popular than mine, provide opinions and information beyond what we have room for in the print editions. Online is a larger vessel to hold what we have to say, and of course, that is its attraction, as people can search and find what interests them.
Isaacson writes that it is important for journalism to have paying readers, not rely solely on advertising for revenue. He is right: If we become a "free" environment, our responsibilities to serve readers are cheapened. What we should be looking at, Isaacson writes, is a way to let people pay for the information they get as they get it.
His lament: "... we have a world in which phone companies have accustomed kids to paying up to 20 cents when they send a text message but it seems technologically and psychologically impossible to get people to pay 10 cents for a magazine, newspaper or newscast. "
Newspapers matter. The question is: How do we quantify the value?
posted by The Daily Overload at
10:51 AM
1 Comments:
Nancy,
What else can I tell you that I am willing to pay a small charge for an online edition. I grew up reading a daily paper cover to to cover from the 8th grade. Today; my time is limited, and I become my own editor, as the net allows me that.
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