Comments on: Whither Goes News, Who Pays?

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:22:35 +0000

Great post Jay – and there is a beer theme to it: With newspapers as with beer, you get the quality that you pay for. If enough people think that flavour is worth paying for, you’ll have a healthy brewing industry. If enough think that quality news is worth paying for, you’ll have a healthy media.

By: Derrick

Derrick — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:07:45 +0000

Paper media got caught up in the technical change of the internet, where in just a about a decade, the cost of delivering content went way down. And since it happened so fast, it’s still a non-equilibrium situation, and how to be profitable with this new reality doesn’t seem obvious. People are no longer willing to pay what they used, but the cost of delivering the content is way down. I don’t know if you can run a newpaper profitably on subscription rates of $3-$10 per month and internet advertising revenue, but someone will probably find a way. It might require a large readership to make this profitable and as much as I’m not looking forward to something like USA Today being the sole source of journalism, the economics may dictate that.

By: chuckl

chuckl — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:20:33 +0000

Jay,
I’m not sure which newspapers you read, but I get the Chronicle and I must say that they’re beer coverage borders on pathetic. I think that rather than emphasize the institution of newspapers, I would focus on the individuals who actually do a good job of covering beer, regardless of whether they are working for a newspaper. The late Bill Brand exemplified this, as you do. Eric Asimov in the NY Times also does a good job when he writes about beer. Newspapers are a victim of their own greed and huberus and for the most part, don’t deserve a lot of sympathy.
I would submit that while it might be a bad time for publishers, it’s a great time for journalism, especially journalism focused on specific topics, since the barriers for entry are essentially eliminated and you don’t have to adhere to their 24 hour news cycle. As a journalist, I find that newspapers have almost become an anachronism. Like you, I grew up with newspapers, but except for a few notable exceptions, I find them mostly irrelevant.