Do newspapers have a future?
The Newspaper Association of America finds itself chained to a product description in an era when the product (the medium) is not in a sustainable position. The NAA formed in 1992 when seven newspaper industry associations merged. One, the American Newspaper Publishers Association, was founded in 1887.
In 1887, there was only one way to travel between America and Europe. How many people do you know today who have made that journey? How many chose to take a passenger ship?
The NAA knows the times are changing, so the organization “asked 22 of some of the more insightful thinkers we know to provide their perspectives on how newspapers can shape their own future.”
There were no restrictions. All were free to write on any aspect of the newspaper business and offer up positive or negative prognoses. The goal: Stimulate ideas and discussions about the newspaper franchise 5 - 10 years from now.
I was honored to be one of the invited 22 people. My contribution is The Future of the News Business (you’ll note I avoided that troublesome word, newspaper). The essays are being posted as blog entries; the top of the blog is here. The first day of posts is here (five posts).
Of course I didn’t want to write doom and gloom. What good would that serve?
So if a news organization wants to shape its own future, where would it begin? (First, it would get rid of that word, newspaper.) Look at the content. What do you have to offer that I can’t get in 1,000 other places? That’s your best content. Focus on it. Now. Then look at how you deliver it. If it’s too hard to get, I’ll just do without, thank you. I still have 1,000 other places to get content, remember? Read more at the NAA site.
Wow Mindy! Great post. Sadly I think many editors are stuck in the past, complaining about Craigslist and Ebay instead of trying to think about solutions.
Sadly I think it’s mostly the smaller papers that are going to suffer most (even though circ declines are not as bad) unless they can manage the digital switch.
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