Those subscriptions will not save newspapers. They alone will not pay for the cost of reporting. No one revenue stream will—not online or print advertising, or alerts on handheld devices, or new electronic readers that display stories handsomely. The hope is that they all will.
The means of distributing the news will change, but what is clear and unchanging is people’s desire to know things, to be told a story, and to be able talk about it all with other people—for such things matter.
Extra! Extra! Read all about it!
Charging for online access to newspapers will only hasten their demise. Watch Detroit and Ann Arbor, Mich., already verging on failures in converting paid print readers into paid online readers and losing revenue right and left. Once the economy and advertising recovers, newspapers will sell enough ads in print and online to make a profit.
Posted by John K. Hartman on Wed 15 Jul 2009 at 05:17 PM