Internet Overtakes Newspapers As News Source

I'm happy to adjust to Internet news delivery. I think most people would be happy to write/edit for Internet news organizations.

The problem is, how do you adjust to $10 an hour with no benefits? How do professionals ever adjust to that?

If you can explain that evolution, please do so.

 

People will be conditioned to not care as much about news as they once did. The 20 somethings all the surveys tend to care about sure aren't going to spend more than 5 minutes on a newspaper website. It'll be like channel surfing, people might click on a newspaper or yahoo website for a few moments but that'll be it.

 

This hadn't already happened?

 

This absolutely is not true. The 20-somethings I work with in trade publishing care very much about news. But they don't read newspapers. Many won't take a newspaper even when I offer one for free. They never buy newspapers. Even the people who have worked in newspapers. It's just not an option for them.

 

Yeah, I erred in bringing them up. I've long said, skip that demographic. The adults with kids the 35 to 100 age group are the ones who will read a newspaper. Read Mark Cuban's blog. He's a pretty smart guy and he insists there's a market for newspapers still. The newspaper editors gave up on selling ads. Giving away the product for free on the Internet has buried newspapers. I just wish they'd all speed it up and get rid of the print product completely and start the complete purging and hiring of the 8 dollar an hour no benefits people. Get on with it Gannett. Make the move.

 

As worker, I don't care how the news is delivered as long as I get paid a livable wage with reasonable benefits.

As a consumer, why the hell should I buy your newspaper (which will have day-old news, which won't even make it to my porch more than four times a week because the paper is too cheap to pay real wages so we're stuck with all the meth addicts as carriers, which won't have all of the room for all of the news so I might miss on a story they decided not to run) when you're going to let me read all the stories for free online (which technically isn't free to me since I pay for cable broadband)?

So I can take it with me anywhere? I can cancel my subscription and use the money to buy a mobile device that will allow me to read your free Web site. I can take that anywhere. And if I splurge or something like a Blackberry, it will be a shitload more useful than the paper. Can the paper make phone calls? Does it have an organizer? Can I send or read e-mail with the newspaper?

There are plenty of reasons for news organizations and reporters/editors/photographers/videographers. I don't see many reasons to read day-old stories on cheap paper anymore.

 

Please follow through, CM, and tell us just who pays for the gatherers livable wages and reasonable benefits? The consumers? The migrating-elsewhere-already advertisers? News organizations can't deliver the committed eyeballs online that they once could in print, so advertisers won't pay anything close to the old rates.

That's why we're looking at half the staff size, half the salaries or both.

 

Beats me. I don't care where it comes from anymore, just so long as it lasts until I get get out. That's the only priority right now.

 

the day after obama was elected proves that newspapers can survive for who knows how long....everything sold out across the country...people had to get a newspaper for that event. the internet just wasnt going to cut it. doesn't that say something?

 

Sure. It says, "Once every 40 years, when there's a monumental election, people will want newspapers as souvenirs."

 

And there's the key word: souvenirs. We've become a novelty. That's a big reason I don't want to do this anymore. I can't stand that it's nothing more than scrapbook fodder for grandmothers. I can't count the calls I receive with the word "scrapbook." I want to hang myself with my tie when I hear that.

 

I disagree.
If the print product is so worthless and dead, then why don't we just get rid of all newspapers, all magazines, all books. People still want to read something they can hold in their hands. The only reason anybody is reading the Internet at all is because it is free.
So what if "young people" stopped getting the newspaper. Young people don't have money. There are and always will be enough people to read newspapers to make them profitable. Not, however, when half the staffs are cut and good people and beats are let go. Self fulfilling prophecy.