Guardian Unlimited | Columnists | Simon Jenkins: Three cheers for Gutenberg – and long live dead trees — A longish, but interesting essay about the fact that newspapers are not dead at all. In fact, the opposite may be true. The essayists answers the question about American newspapers dying with the comment: THEY ARE BORING. Hmm. That may explain everything.
America’s serious newspapers are declining because they are dull, worthy and uncompetitive. Graham Stewart’s Times history points out that in 1981 the outlook for British papers was indeed grim. This is not because they were losing money – most had been relying on outside support for years – but because their production and editorial methods were inflexible and deterred competition. Even so, daily circulation was little changed from 20 years earlier, hovering at a million either side of 14 million.
found by Andrew Orlowski
I think the author’s conclusions are based more on hope than fact. Newspapers in the UK may enjoy a legacy that lasts a bit longer than Stateside; but, studies, bought and paid for by newspapers, show they had better get their butts online and successfully — or they will go the way of the Dodo.
If you looks at what’s going on, say, with CNN and MSN, the same holds true for TV journalism. And, as we’ve previously posted here, Rupert Murdoch agrees, as well.
Gotta agree with my fellow New Mexican, mostly; many US papers are boring, or seem to be controlled by the local Chamber of Commerce (the Las Vegas NV papers, for instance, which never talk about the crime there–they leave that to the CSI TV series).
However, what’s really needed is for reporters to do their jobs, like the Florida paper who found that certain county commisioners no longer worked in their districts(even if the paper got into trouble for it). Similar work in NM in the past has resulted in a Pulitzer prize for an Albuquerque paper. Nothing like that lately, though…
The Sunday Seattle Times may be the biggest waste of ink and newsprint on the planet. For that last 6 months (or longer), I have read each issue of the Sunday SeaTimes front to back twice and rarely find anything of interest. Very sad.
I would much rather read a dead tree any day. Maybe I’m too old fashioned, but there is something too eye straining about reading long passages on a monitor.