An interesting resource launched last month to aggregate articles, links, and thoughts about the changes well underway in the newspaper industry. Newspaperproject.org compiles published pieces about print vs. online, newspaper impact on local communities, newspaper publishers’ slow and stunted adoption of social media interaction and more, and provides a bit of a platform for exchange of ideas on related topics.
At this point, most of this interaction is formatted through blog response comments, which is great, but doesn’t really stretch that far beyond what newspapers are already doing in the online realm. And as you find on newspaper websites, many comments are so biased, opinionated, or even venemous, that it really brings you down to read through them looking for additional perspective and insight.
There are some fresh and forward-thinking thoughts from readers, though. In response to the article, “Imagining A City Without its Daily Newspaper,” reader Bill Grady comments, “Let’s keep our news organizations, but in a digital form that saves on our natural resources. Credit card companies and financial institutions are all urging their customers to go “paperless”, so why can’t the newspapers be financially viable by doing the same thing? Surely the minds of the industry can find a way to make money without the final product being on the printed page.”
Print newspapers are dying, in part because they have failed to adapt. Information from the Pew Research Center identifies a tipping point in print versus online readership in 2008. I certainly get my news online now, and though I have friends losing jobs in the newspaper industry and I recognize the local and civic impact, I couldn’t imagine paying for most of what I read out there. I’ll admit my cynicism, but when I have such a hard time finding good writing and I have to do so much work to read between the lines to inform myself, I lose respect for the writers, editors, publishers, organizations, and channels (online or print) and advertisers that presented the reporting in such a disorganized and misdirected manner.
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September 26, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Michael Ling
Andy,
I’ve just landed your post via google search whilst searching for fresh ideas in the realm of social media. I can’t agree more on your point that most of the newspaper blogs are filled with ‘disorganized and misdirected’ materials, bickering and ego-centered comments.
Undeniably, the print media is losing readers and is bleeding. I was wondering if there is any research done in this space looking at how the traditional media industries are reacting to the rise of user-generated content.
I’ll be interested to see if social media can be used by corporations as a relationship marketing tool with the communities; and if social media (together with ugc) can be exploited in a marketing model.
Michael