Today, Paul Chesser has a great article in the American Spectator about the future of print-news. Basically, Paul takes a practical approach, concluding that there are many reasons to drop the printed word in favor of the tech-savvy online approach. One of the best lines in the piece is a quote from “CBS Evening News” anchor Bob Schieffer, where he told USA Today:
If the railroads had realized that they were in the transportation business, they’d own all the airlines today. Unfortunately, they thought they were in the railroad business, and that’s what we have to keep in mind here. We’re in the information business.
Granted, adaptability is essential for anything to survive; and if you’re talking about a business, it’s especially important to not be myopic. But there’s something else that businesses must keep in mind: identity and flare. Products today are focusing more and more on how to get the product to be a part of the consumer. Not only do you want a potential consumer to feel like he needs the product, but you also want him to feel like the product is a part of him; it contributes something special to him. And I think newspapers have the chance to be distinct in this field, a move that would preserve them for years to come.
If online blogging and instant-access to information have become competition for newspapers (which has contributed to their declining circulation), you can either try to compete, or redefine your competition. Newspapers need to do the latter, and by doing this, they not only ensure their future, they also remake the newspaper genre.
Two things I would recommend in making this leap:
1) Forget the up-to-the-second news coverage — it won’t work for something that requires a deadline. All you get is half-baked stories filled with anonymous sources. Instead, focus on in-depth coverage. Go the extra mile, even if it means being a bit late. This of course pushes papers to step out of the “daily” category and move to weekly, or maybe even biweekly. Wedge them somewhere between online news sources and magazines.
2) Newspaper readers love the pictures and organization of the paper. Make newspapers an art form. Keep the old-time feel.
