Denver's oldest newspaper, the Rocky Mountain News, published it's final edition today after 150 years in publication.
The fate of this Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper might soon become the fate of our dailies here in Chicago -- the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times -- if they don't start doing something different.
Isn't the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?
I believe that old-school newspaper men and women are so reluctant to change their format because the newspaper is no longer the only one deciding what is worthy of being deemed the news. With hyperlocal sites such as Uptown Update that covers Chicago's Uptown neighborhood or even Every Block, these people are threatened that they are not the sole authority on what is and isn't news worth knowing.
This was obvious at the Chicago Journalism Town Hall conference because the seasoned reporters spent the first two hours patting themselves on the back and reinforcing what good journalism is rather than brainstorm ideas for new business models.
While no one has all the answers, newspapers need to start doing something different. Try redesigning the web site. Work with advertisers and ask them what they want and how they want to advertise their products. Here's something crazy: ask the readers what they want out of their local newspapers.
Good reporting alone isn't going to pay the bills anymore.
(Cross-posted from my class's blog, go to newsnow.ning.com to see comments from my classmates).
1 comment:
I have several friend in journalism and they all seem to be singing the same song. Newspapers are going to be a thing of the past unless they learn another way to deliver the news utilizing new technology.
Good for you for starting a blog that will keep you on the cutting edge. Yesterday I heard a discussion on NPR about what will happen to journalism.
No matter what happens, we still need news, so we still need reporters. We just need to know in a more timely fashion and the industry will have to stay up-to-date with the needs of the world.
I will often read several articles about the same subject to get different slants on the facts, but never read from paper copies of news anymore.
For what it is worth, journalism is still a necessary endeavor, no matter if the words are printed on the page or on a computer screen.
Kimberly Coburn
Baton Rouge, LA
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