Comments on: What Will You Miss When Newspapers Disappear?

By: Die newspaper, die! « Signs of a Glorious Day

Die newspaper, die! « Signs of a Glorious Day — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 05:10:52 +0000

[...] key and only question is raised by this blog post on that blog post demonstrates: But Godin glosses over a crucial point: if newspapers disappear, [...]

By: Blogger talks about news after the demise of the newspaper « All the News: The Companion Blog

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 22:44:33 +0000

[...] Blogger talks about news after the demise of the newspaper Posted on January 30, 2009 by allthenewsblog With most people turning to online media and the slow downfall of the traditional newspaper, many people are wondering what will become of the “news”. Blogger Seth Godin poses a more concrete question. “What will we miss when newspapers disappear?” Godin writes: “What’s left is local news, investigative journalism and intelligent coverage of national news. Perhaps 2% of the cost of a typical paper.” Advertisements, comic strips, restaurant and book reviews are all still available online anytime. Godin asks who will care about true investigative journalism when there is no one to pay for it. Christine Huang considers Godin’s argument. [...]

By: Newspapers are dead or dying, is email next? « web|aggression.blog

Newspapers are dead or dying, is email next? « web|aggression.blog — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:18:07 +0000

[...] http://www.psfk.com/2009/01/what-will-you-miss-when-newspapers-disappear.html [...]

By: Nicole Cifani

Nicole Cifani — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 08:37:03 +0000

No way are newspapers going away anytime soon. We’ll miss them too much. I think something that everyone is forgetting here is the experience alone of reading the newspaper.

There’s something nostalgic about it.

The habit of going out at dawn to retrieve the paper at home or from the news stand. The way the paper smells. The way it feels as we fold it over awkwardly on a leisurely Sunday morning, passing on the sections we don’t care for or have read already to family members or strangers. The experience of reading the paper is one that we will soon not dismiss.

Long form, investigative journalism isn’t going anywhere. A lot of the fat could be trimmed as we can obviously offer some features online and – advertising space is cut or moves online.

By: Posts about Internet Marketing Experts as of January 17, 2009 | The Lessnau Lounge

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 15:57:45 +0000

[...] to the consumer. In the past 2 years I have seen at least 3 newspapers expanding in India What Will You Miss When Newspapers Disappear? – fashion.psfk.com 01/16/2009 A couple of weeks ago we talked about Americans’ rising reliance on [...]

By: James Glave

James Glave — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 22:26:47 +0000

re: “will long-form, investigative journalism really be able to sustain itself on the public ‘paying for it one way or another’?”

I can answer this one: No. It’s the truth. Investigative journalism, or at least what remains of it, is INVESTIGATIVE. It involves freedom-of-information-act requests, careful cultivation of sources, tedious legwork, dumpster diving, hunch following. That’s the nuts & bolts of how it works, folks. Don’t hold your breath waiting for the blogosphere to jump in and fill the void.

I agree with all of the above about ad-padding filler, the whole forests that died for the sake of weekend sections called “Homes” and “Wheels.” Newspapers have dug their own graves, gradually.

I blogged a bit about the potential of micropayments to solve some of this, but in my take the required infrastructure is still a long ways off…

http://glave.com/2008/12/27/send-035-for-this-story/

By: Forty2

Forty2 — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 22:24:41 +0000

“woodpulp, printing presses, typesetting machines, delivery trucks, those stands on the street and the newsstand” – Godin contends we’ll probably be fine without.
———
Sure, as long as you’re not involved in the operation or production of any of those. Insulated pundit types tend to forget about the faceless eaters, out of sight and mind, who make it all possible.

By: seth godin

seth godin — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:12:58 +0000

Thanks Christine.

A few things in response:
1. First, I never said I want papers to go away, I merely said that they were going to. Two different things.

2. More important, how much “long form investigative journalism” is there really? When I was growing up in Buffalo, NY, I read the paper every single day and can’t recall a single example. The New York Times has more editors in the lifestyle section than they have reporters doing this sort of work. It’s a tiny drop in a big but leaky bucket.

I guess what I’m saying is, “if this is so important, why aren’t we doing more of it right now? Why is it reserved for the leftover money, the slice of civic responsibility the paper’s reserve for it?”

I heard from a lot of journalists, but none of them could explain why the amount of investigative long form journalism we had ten years ago at the peak of newspapers was the right amount.

I’m bullish on this one. As soon as we make it clear what the reader gets, we’ll get more of it.