Matthew Yglesias is moved by one of those “only-in-Japan” stories to ponder the future of journalism:
I also have the idiosyncratic view that the answer to a lot of questions you hear about the future of certain kinds of journalistic activities is going to be “bored old people will do it for free once they all have broadband.” Who will write up the city council meeting? Bored old people! It beats shoplifting.
As anyone who’s ever covered a city council meeting knows, bored old people make up most of the audience (at least, outside of Santa Clara). So we may be on to something here…
Greg Marx is an associate editor at CJR. Follow him on Twitter @gregamarx.