Other matters…
I haven’t had time to do much posting other than keeping everyone abreast with the pool construction. But I’ll try to start doing some posting here over the next few days about music and anything else that might interest me.
I heard a radio advertisement today that said the Philadelphia Inquirer had increased it’s circulation! I’m skeptical (it was an ad for the Inquirer) and I’m sure there is some loophole in their statistics, like counting each section in the paper as a circulated copy…
My coworkers at Springhouse know my feelings about the current state of the newspaper industry, but since you might not have heard it…
I think all in all, newspapers (of the dead tree variety) are practically a waste of time today. It seems like the only people that still get daily delivery of the Philadelphia Inquirer are older folks. The problem is that most of their content is already outdated by the time the newspaper hits your curb in the morning. With today’s 7×24 newscycle it’s impossible for them to follow the latest developments and have them reflected in the next edition.
I get most of my news off the internet either via the major news sites or several blogs. A site like TheNewsRightNow is a great example of this, where you have the combination of both traditional news organizations (including the Philly Inq) along with blogs from across the political spectrum.
In order to survive, newspapers are going to need to concentrate on niche areas where their location, access, and ability to do in depth analysis is unsurpassed. In depth analysis is something that blogs cannot do (for the most part) because of lack of resources. Covering local issues and politics that have little interest in the national media gives them a market niche that they can exploit. They will need to cut back on international and national coverage, as well as entertainment (i.e., non-local entertainment instead of having reports about Lindsey Lohan and Paris Hilton), travel, and non-local sports teams. Areas of value would be local food, local arts, etc.
I don’t necessarily expect the “newspaper” to disappear completely though. While web based content is great, there are still a number of hurdles to get through, primarily the portability of newspapers. Until everyone has a web-enabled device and wireless broadband access, someone will want to buy a newspaper to read on the train, bus, park bench, etc. Besides, those of us that use eBay will still need a cheap alternative packing material.
