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Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable
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Comments (52)
Thinking the Unthinkable
29 earlier comments in the full thread.
Great article Scott. When put together with the articles that the Colonel posted above it gives rise to an interesting question. Who will pay for good journalism? The Week claims that people write for free but what you'll get is the gossip that Salon refers to, not the kind of high quality journalism that we want to see.
Not three days ago Carla remarked in one of her articles that her rants attract the most viewers. So, when income depends on ads and they pay for the number of viewers then the model is obviously broken. It's the typical short-term thinking that causes this entire financial mess to begin with. In short term thinking more rants and gossip equal more viewers and higher ad income. But as Salon points out, on the longer term your readers will turn to something else.
This leads to wonder, if the number of readers you get on a story isn't an appropriate measure, what is? Figure that out and you have an idea that you can build a business model around.
Not three days ago Carla remarked in one of her articles that her rants attract the most viewers. So, when income depends on ads and they pay for the number of viewers then the model is obviously broken. It's the typical short-term thinking that causes this entire financial mess to begin with. In short term thinking more rants and gossip equal more viewers and higher ad income. But as Salon points out, on the longer term your readers will turn to something else.
This leads to wonder, if the number of readers you get on a story isn't an appropriate measure, what is? Figure that out and you have an idea that you can build a business model around.
Substituting "music" for "journalism," the question becomes:
"Who will pay for good music?"
And the oft-quoted example of the Grateful Dead comes to mind. They encourage people to copy their albums, but also ask that they buy concert tickets and swag.
Translating that back into journalism, I would say tuxchick is on a similar track. Read the articles, read the rants, but buy the book.
So, tc, how's it working out for you?
"Who will pay for good music?"
And the oft-quoted example of the Grateful Dead comes to mind. They encourage people to copy their albums, but also ask that they buy concert tickets and swag.
Translating that back into journalism, I would say tuxchick is on a similar track. Read the articles, read the rants, but buy the book.
So, tc, how's it working out for you?
I don't think that would work well. Good journalists aren't necessarily good book authors. Moreover, not all journalistic content makes good books. For Carla this appears to work. But how about the local news journalist? What would they write a book about?
Books could support some journalists in some fields but I don't think it can carry the big load of journalism we need.
Books could support some journalists in some fields but I don't think it can carry the big load of journalism we need.
It certainly works for the FFF, Independence Institute and Mises.org.
They all say that, by putting their materials online for "free", sales of the hardbound versions go up, sometimes substantially.
They all say that, by putting their materials online for "free", sales of the hardbound versions go up, sometimes substantially.
True Bob. But what kind of book could a simple journalist covering local news sell?
It also works for Phil and Kaja Foglio. http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php?date=20070...
They're using the Internet to boost their visibility. They already have a decades-old fanbase, but the Internet has grown it to the next level. Kaja stated in her weblog something to the effect that, if they had known how much the Internet would bring in the sales, they would have gone online years ago.
They're using the Internet to boost their visibility. They already have a decades-old fanbase, but the Internet has grown it to the next level. Kaja stated in her weblog something to the effect that, if they had known how much the Internet would bring in the sales, they would have gone online years ago.
I think it will come down to ad sales, just as a newspaper does.
For example, have you seen RidleyReport.com? He uses YouTube for his media, reporting on local issues very much like a beat reporter would be doing for a newspaper.
Each of his videos has a "Brought to you by..." at the start and end, and a URL in the text description.
For example, have you seen RidleyReport.com? He uses YouTube for his media, reporting on local issues very much like a beat reporter would be doing for a newspaper.
Each of his videos has a "Brought to you by..." at the start and end, and a URL in the text description.
Hey Everybody!
No more worries! They're going to bail out the Newspapers! (several links in the article, easier to just copy the text)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/026089.html
Mainstream Media Bailout Bill Introduced Posted by David Kramer at March 28, 2009 05:27 PM NEWS FLASH!! As the United States of Socialist America continues its Bizarro World freefall towards Great Depression II, we now have word that the "Honourable" Benjamin Cardin, U.S. Senator from the great state of Maryland, has introduced into that "august" body known as the U.S. Senate a bill entitled "Newspaper Revitalization Act."
“We are losing our newspaper industry...the economy has caused an immediate problem, but the business model for newspapers, based on circulation and advertising revenue, is broken, and that is a real tragedy for communities across the nation and for our democracy. It is in the interest of our nation and good governance that we ensure they survive” said Senator Cardin.
The act would grant newspapers tax-free status as non-profits¹, a deal similar to that enjoyed by public broadcasting outlets, which survive on tax-deductible contributions from listeners. The newspapers, however, will also be able to enjoy tax free advertising revenue."
Since all newspapers might soon become non-profits, perhaps we can convince the great Jerry Lewis to hold a telethon for The New York Times--and I know the perfect day to hold that telethon on: May Day.
¹As far as I'm concerned, I don't think any Establishment newspaper has ever been profitable--at least in the sense of any thinking person having found it "profitable" to read an Establishment newspaper.
No more worries! They're going to bail out the Newspapers! (several links in the article, easier to just copy the text)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/026089.html
Mainstream Media Bailout Bill Introduced Posted by David Kramer at March 28, 2009 05:27 PM NEWS FLASH!! As the United States of Socialist America continues its Bizarro World freefall towards Great Depression II, we now have word that the "Honourable" Benjamin Cardin, U.S. Senator from the great state of Maryland, has introduced into that "august" body known as the U.S. Senate a bill entitled "Newspaper Revitalization Act."
“We are losing our newspaper industry...the economy has caused an immediate problem, but the business model for newspapers, based on circulation and advertising revenue, is broken, and that is a real tragedy for communities across the nation and for our democracy. It is in the interest of our nation and good governance that we ensure they survive” said Senator Cardin.
The act would grant newspapers tax-free status as non-profits¹, a deal similar to that enjoyed by public broadcasting outlets, which survive on tax-deductible contributions from listeners. The newspapers, however, will also be able to enjoy tax free advertising revenue."
Since all newspapers might soon become non-profits, perhaps we can convince the great Jerry Lewis to hold a telethon for The New York Times--and I know the perfect day to hold that telethon on: May Day.
¹As far as I'm concerned, I don't think any Establishment newspaper has ever been profitable--at least in the sense of any thinking person having found it "profitable" to read an Establishment newspaper.
Quoting:I think it will come down to ad sales, just as a newspaper does.
But as sales drive down the quality of the journalism, as both Scott's link and Carla's remark show. Gossip and hubris brings in more viewers than high quality journalism. People tend to optimise what they get paid for. Joel Spolsky has some nice things to say about that:
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/news/20020715.html
That's software related, not newspaper related but it's the same economic principle at work.
It is also what appears to drive cable television. Infotainment in the form of shouting matches and rants plus sensational stunts draws much greater ratings than does serious discussion and investigative journalism. The ratings to effort ratio for serious journalism just does not make it viable so it has slowly disappeared.
Serious journalism has retreated to magazines and specialist websites. In the end the there needs to be a charge model and a serious syndication charge on compilation sites like Drudge and Huffpost (selected at random to avoid political overones).
Serious journalism has retreated to magazines and specialist websites. In the end the there needs to be a charge model and a serious syndication charge on compilation sites like Drudge and Huffpost (selected at random to avoid political overones).
> But as sales drive down the quality of the journalism, as both Scott's link and Carla's remark show. Gossip and hubris brings in more viewers than high quality journalism.
So what? If that's what people want, then so be it.
I'm not going to rob someone to pay for a service I like, even if I think it's worthy to continue to function.
So "real news" is something you (and I) like? Then someone will stand up and offer that service because there is a demand to be filled.
If there is not enough demand for "serious journalism" that it cannot support itself, then there is no overwhelming mandate for it to be "provided" by force.
But then, hey, this is a website for Linux news. Remember Linux, software created and established by amateurs? Could be that "real news" will take the same path. If experience is any guide, doing so will only make it better.
So what? If that's what people want, then so be it.
I'm not going to rob someone to pay for a service I like, even if I think it's worthy to continue to function.
So "real news" is something you (and I) like? Then someone will stand up and offer that service because there is a demand to be filled.
If there is not enough demand for "serious journalism" that it cannot support itself, then there is no overwhelming mandate for it to be "provided" by force.
But then, hey, this is a website for Linux news. Remember Linux, software created and established by amateurs? Could be that "real news" will take the same path. If experience is any guide, doing so will only make it better.
Best Sunday sermon I have heard in years, thanks Bob!
Quoting:But what kind of book could a simple journalist covering local news sell?
Local news will be saved by Scott Adams: http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/how_i_saved_newspapers/
> But what kind of book could a simple journalist covering local news sell?
Stories about the material they cover. One of our local journalists has a couple of books out about hunting and dogs. A sports reporter has memoirs of the players and teams he's covered. Whatever it is you cover, if there's enough interest for a newspaper column, there's probably enough interest for an in depth examination in print, especially one that emphasizes your perspective and experience.
Stories about the material they cover. One of our local journalists has a couple of books out about hunting and dogs. A sports reporter has memoirs of the players and teams he's covered. Whatever it is you cover, if there's enough interest for a newspaper column, there's probably enough interest for an in depth examination in print, especially one that emphasizes your perspective and experience.
Quoting:If there is not enough demand for "serious journalism" that it cannot support itself, then there is no overwhelming mandate for it to be "provided" by force.
Gossip is cheaper to produce and attracts more readers. With ad supported journalism as is happening now only very few people would want to do serious journalism. I think there is enough demand to support serious journalism but there won't be enough supply because the suppliers can make more money off gossip.
A better business model would not just support serious journalism. It should make serious journalism at least as attractive as gossip, from an economic and game-the-system point of view.
Eh, this is the perennial conundrum. We have more information and news available to us than ever, and yet significant numbers of citizens choose to believe totally unbelievable bogus nonsense. We're spoiled by receiving decades of advertiser-subsidized newspapers, magazines, and radio and TV programming. Professional sports are completely controlled by advertisers.
Public TV and radio used to be all proud of not running commercials. Oregon Public Broadcasting boasts of being something like 60% member-funded, and yet they run commercials and the corporate contributors get all the attention. Linux Weekly News has consistently delivered the highest-quality content for years and almost went out of business. Now they survive on both reader subscriptions and advertising.
gus3, my bigger paychecks come from article writing and editing, not books. Books are fun and I think they're useful contributions to the Linux ecosystem, but I couldn't live on them. The Dead had an economic model that worked for them, but it doesn't fit everyone. Why shouldn't a band be able to make a decent living selling their recordings? Touring is brutal, the folks who say "give the recordings away and make money performing!" have no idea what they're saying. Books are hard to copy, but as electronic editions become more popular that is going to change. Then what?
Fans of 'Blade Runner' might remember how exaggerated it seemed when it was first released, with giant screens running giant commercials day and night, and rampant, unavoidable advertising everywhere. It doesn't seem so over-the-top anymore, does it.
Public TV and radio used to be all proud of not running commercials. Oregon Public Broadcasting boasts of being something like 60% member-funded, and yet they run commercials and the corporate contributors get all the attention. Linux Weekly News has consistently delivered the highest-quality content for years and almost went out of business. Now they survive on both reader subscriptions and advertising.
gus3, my bigger paychecks come from article writing and editing, not books. Books are fun and I think they're useful contributions to the Linux ecosystem, but I couldn't live on them. The Dead had an economic model that worked for them, but it doesn't fit everyone. Why shouldn't a band be able to make a decent living selling their recordings? Touring is brutal, the folks who say "give the recordings away and make money performing!" have no idea what they're saying. Books are hard to copy, but as electronic editions become more popular that is going to change. Then what?
Fans of 'Blade Runner' might remember how exaggerated it seemed when it was first released, with giant screens running giant commercials day and night, and rampant, unavoidable advertising everywhere. It doesn't seem so over-the-top anymore, does it.
> giant screens running giant commercials day and night, and rampant, unavoidable advertising everywhere.
Just like downtown in many a big city now.
Does "real news" sell? Is 20/20 profitable? 60 Minutes?
Being a happy consumer of the Mises Institute and their ilk, do their economics and history books make money?
Does Ridley Report make money? (he SEEMS to anyway)
Yes, yes, and yes. Real news does sell. That's why newspapers were invented in the first place.
But the "broadcast" and "get your news here" aspects have been superceded by the 'Net, that's all.
Just like downtown in many a big city now.
Does "real news" sell? Is 20/20 profitable? 60 Minutes?
Being a happy consumer of the Mises Institute and their ilk, do their economics and history books make money?
Does Ridley Report make money? (he SEEMS to anyway)
Yes, yes, and yes. Real news does sell. That's why newspapers were invented in the first place.
But the "broadcast" and "get your news here" aspects have been superceded by the 'Net, that's all.
Quoting:It doesn't seem so over-the-top anymore, does it.Neither does 1984.
And now another model proposed
Newspapers as non-profit entities, via a national Newspaper Revitalization Act.
From today's CNBC piece 'U.S. Bill Seeks to Rescue Faltering Newspapers' :
Any thoughts on Senator Cardin's proposal here ??
From today's CNBC piece 'U.S. Bill Seeks to Rescue Faltering Newspapers' :
Quoting:With many U.S. newspapers struggling to survive, a Democratic senator Tuesday introduced a bill to help them by allowing newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks.(source is http://www.cnbc.com/id/29861548)
"This may not be the optimal choice for some major newspapers or corporate media chains but it should be an option for many newspapers that are struggling to stay afloat," said Senator Benjamin Cardin.
A Cardin spokesman said the bill had yet to attract any co-sponsors, but had sparked plenty of interest within the media, which has seen plunging revenues and many journalist layoffs.
Cardin's Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the U.S. tax code, giving them a similar status to public broadcasting companies.
Any thoughts on Senator Cardin's proposal here ??
Something to try. Who knows what will work, got to try everything.
And yet another related piece from earlier today, U.S. West Coast time.
From SFGate's 'Nonprofit Mother Jones role model for industry', http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/24/... :
From SFGate's 'Nonprofit Mother Jones role model for industry', http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/24/... :
Quoting:Thirty-three years after Mother Jones began as a nonprofit magazine, co-editor Monika Bauerlein jokes that "we're so out of date, we're hip."Hmmmm, wonder if this particular trend toward non-profits in the newspaper industry would ever possibly evolve into an OpenSource-like model ??
She was referring to renewed interest in the San Francisco magazine's business model. As major daily newspapers, like the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, cease publication and others, like The Chronicle, plan extensive layoffs to cope with dwindling revenue, many in the news publishing world are exploring the nonprofit model.
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But even more urgent.
Just as one-size-fits-all papers obfuscated problems, so does an economy during the easy-money portion of the "boom".
Then comes the correction. There's a good reason it's called a "correction", lots of dead-wood gets pruned. Of course that dead-wood falls on some people's heads, but if the easy-money hadn't created a "boom" then at least all that dead-wood wouldn't be falling at once.
And this looks like it's going to be one hell of a correction.