Mar 24, 2008

The fate of the American newspaper

Eric Alterman writes in the New Yorker about failing newspapers and what might come next.

2 comments:

pissy said...

This high-up passage from Alterman is particularly interesting to me:
Newspaper companies are losing advertisers, readers, market value, and, in some cases, their sense of mission at a pace that would have been barely imaginable just four years ago.

Yes, four years ago seems about right to me. 2004 is about the time I decided, at the ripe age of 28, that I wanted to become a newspaper reporter. Silly girl.

Then, it was clear papers were changing and readership was declining, but there still seemed to be the possibility of doing good journalism, of serving the public. You couldn't smell death in the air then the way you can now.

If only I had known then what 2008 would feel like.

Anonymous said...

I suspect one day people will look up and realize this business started dying not because of the net - but the first indication was when TV started reporting celebrity gossip and calling it news.

Then too keep up newspapers started trying to be sexy and then the NET came along.

Will the net replaces newspapers? Nope, but they will hurt them.