The Future of Newspapers

The newspaper industry seems to be heading away from the traditional newspaper delivery system to an on-line system of distribution. Some people seem to think that the advent of more independent, interactive social forms of news such as blogs and independent websites, will lead to the end of the newspaper industry. However, it’s clear that blogs other new sources for news aren’t held up to the same standards or produced at the same level of professionalism as traditional newspapers. I think most people know this and demand the higher standards that newspapers provide. So I think that the way that the newspaper industry gets information to people will change, but I don’t think the industry will disappear. Newspapers are in the information business not the printing information on paper business. It’s like a company that makes drills, they’re in the business of making holes, not drills. So if the technology of making holes changes the company should change too. As the old business saying goes, “Make holes, not drills.” In other words, adapt to changes in the market and be in the business that your service provides, not in the business of the technology that currently makes that service possible. I think if newspapers realize this soon enough and take the appropriate actions, they’ll be ok. But I’m not sure what the future of newspapers will be; maybe limited newspaper delivery, accompanied by on-line and RSS feeds to e-readers and other hand-helds.

Here are a couple links to articles about the future of newspapers.

The Economist: Who Killed the Newspaper?

Time: Extra: Newspapers Aren’t Dead

Time: A new Model from Detroit