I declare that newspapers are going to be dead (or at least completely irrelevant) in very near future. This is only for those, of course, that didn't ask "what's a newspaper?."
They will not die because they don't have good content or because they are not going to be culturally relevant. On the contrary, I see great value in sources that could analyze rather than report. The problem is more mundane. That of management. I think newspapers will not survive because their survival instincts are neolithic.
Where is all this coming from?
I am one of the last few humans that gets not one but two physical papers delivered to his doorstep every morning. Correction, I used to get two papers delivered to my doorstep every morning. I moved about 4 weeks ago. A week before I moved I called up both 'The New York Times' and the 'Wall Street Journal' to change my address and start delivering the paper a week in advance to the new address. A gave them a week because I somehow knew that they would not get it right immediately.
Here I am - 5 weeks after -- still waiting to get a paper delivered to my doorstep. Needless to mention, I've called them and complained and they claim they have need been able to finalize a "delivery route" for my new address. This would have made sense had I not moved only 2 blocks from my old address. I suspect the delivery route is any different or is even an issue. The issue here -- which is generally the principal issue for the failure of all big companies to connect with their customers: lethargy. Who cares. It's just a paper -- everyone gets the news from the Internet anyway. Lighten up.
Lighten up I will. I will give these, the arbiters of professionalism in the modern world, another week. I will give up physical newspapers if they cannot deliver the paper.
Will this matter to them? Obviously not. They don't care to begin with. However, if they lose someone who worships them then they lose a lot. They lose the publicity that I provided to them. They lose the credibility that I propagandized over my considerable sphere of influence in family, friends and specially at work.
They will not die because they don't have good content or because they are not going to be culturally relevant. On the contrary, I see great value in sources that could analyze rather than report. The problem is more mundane. That of management. I think newspapers will not survive because their survival instincts are neolithic.
Where is all this coming from?
I am one of the last few humans that gets not one but two physical papers delivered to his doorstep every morning. Correction, I used to get two papers delivered to my doorstep every morning. I moved about 4 weeks ago. A week before I moved I called up both 'The New York Times' and the 'Wall Street Journal' to change my address and start delivering the paper a week in advance to the new address. A gave them a week because I somehow knew that they would not get it right immediately.
Here I am - 5 weeks after -- still waiting to get a paper delivered to my doorstep. Needless to mention, I've called them and complained and they claim they have need been able to finalize a "delivery route" for my new address. This would have made sense had I not moved only 2 blocks from my old address. I suspect the delivery route is any different or is even an issue. The issue here -- which is generally the principal issue for the failure of all big companies to connect with their customers: lethargy. Who cares. It's just a paper -- everyone gets the news from the Internet anyway. Lighten up.
Lighten up I will. I will give these, the arbiters of professionalism in the modern world, another week. I will give up physical newspapers if they cannot deliver the paper.
Will this matter to them? Obviously not. They don't care to begin with. However, if they lose someone who worships them then they lose a lot. They lose the publicity that I provided to them. They lose the credibility that I propagandized over my considerable sphere of influence in family, friends and specially at work.