During the past six months, the circulation of newspapers has gone down at a faster pace than ever before. More readers are turning to the web. Why now? Is it the economy? Whatever it is, the trend appears to be very real. The Wall Street Journal appears to be the only exception and shows a slight increase in circulation. Could that be because they are also one of the few that charge for viewing online content?
Where most of these declines were in the 10% range, the New York Post and Atlanta Journal Constitution had the steepest declines of 20%. This is a rough, rough time for newspaper publication. Change is in the winds and many waited to adapt or did not see (or chose not to see) the warning signs. I have seen editorials that predict gloom, doom and despair regarding the end of an important era, and the end of local news as we know it. I am unable to comprehend this. Just because the newspaper fades away, why does it mean that news and news reporting should? Isn't it about a new medium where content still remains king? Whereas the business model is not altogether clear, I feel sure that if there is a demand for local news, then there will be a business model that evolves to support it. Perhaps that also means that online content or rather, high-quality online content won't be free forever. Publishers just need to find that business model that works.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment