Journalists should not be paid well, argues Robert G. Picard, a professor of media economics at Sweden’s Jonkoping University, for the csmonitor.com, because journalism has “no intrinsic value” and its “instrumental value” has been eroded. Journalists have been “de-skilled.” Still, according to Picard, “the demise of the news business can be halted.”

For newspapers:

[T]hey can emphasize uniqueness. The Boston Globe, for example, could become the national leader in education and health reporting because of the multitude of higher education and medical institutions in its coverage area. Not only would it make the paper more valuable to readers, but it could sell that coverage to other publications. Similarly, The Dallas Morning News could provide specialized coverage of oil and energy, The Des Moines Register could become the leader in agricultural news; and the Chicago Tribune in airline and aircraft coverage.