The Future of Newspapers
I was listening to the California Report today on KQED. They did a story about news papers dying. They story was mostly about the LA Times. The story seemed to be something right out of The Wire. They are talking about the death of newspapers. It sounds really bad to hear this.
When I hear the reporters talk, it is like they have the right to be in that business. It is like Newspapers do not need to make money. The problem is that just selling ad innovatory is no longer going to work. Newspapers got fat on not having competition for the type of ads they could sell. This made newspapers lazy and they are paying the price now.
I am sorry to hear this story. In 20 years I think we are going to look back at the Tribune company purchase and see one of the great missed chances of the 21 century. I do not think newspapers are really going away, but they are going to change a lot. If I was Sam Zell I would be pushing to make all the the Tribune Newspapers into a single national news paper. I think we are going to see more national newspapers in the future. The Internet is making place less important. I think the Tribune Papers are in a great place to take advantage of this.
Sadly I do not see this happening. I do not see Sam Zell or anyone else having the foresight to pull this off. Instead I see him gutting the papers until they are a shell of what they are right now. Making newspapers less important will lead to their downfall.
When I hear the reporters talk, it is like they have the right to be in that business. It is like Newspapers do not need to make money. The problem is that just selling ad innovatory is no longer going to work. Newspapers got fat on not having competition for the type of ads they could sell. This made newspapers lazy and they are paying the price now.
I am sorry to hear this story. In 20 years I think we are going to look back at the Tribune company purchase and see one of the great missed chances of the 21 century. I do not think newspapers are really going away, but they are going to change a lot. If I was Sam Zell I would be pushing to make all the the Tribune Newspapers into a single national news paper. I think we are going to see more national newspapers in the future. The Internet is making place less important. I think the Tribune Papers are in a great place to take advantage of this.
Sadly I do not see this happening. I do not see Sam Zell or anyone else having the foresight to pull this off. Instead I see him gutting the papers until they are a shell of what they are right now. Making newspapers less important will lead to their downfall.
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