End Times Indeed

Well the lede is a good question. What WOULD happen if the Dallas-Morning News, The Atlanta Journal Constitution and the New York Times stopped publishing tomorrow? Simple life would go on. Would a sudden death of any of them cause a problem? Sure. But in death comes opportunity –

Virtually all the predictions about the death of old media have assumed a comfortingly long time frame for the end of print—the moment when, amid a panoply of flashing lights, press conferences, and elegiac reminiscences, the newspaper presses stop rolling and news goes entirely digital. Most of these scenarios assume a gradual crossing-over, almost like the migration of dunes, as behaviors change, paradigms shift, and the digital future heaves fully into view. The thinking goes that the existing brands—The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal—will be the ones making that transition, challenged but still dominant as sources of original reporting.

But what if the old media dies much more quickly? What if a hurricane comes along and obliterates the dunes entirely? Specifically, what if TheNew York Times goes out of business—like, this May?

It’s certainly plausible. Earnings reports released by the New York Times Company in October indicate that drastic measures will have to be taken over the next five months or the paper will default on some $400million in debt. With more than $1billion in debt already on the books, only $46million in cash reserves as of October, and no clear way to tap into the capital markets (the company’s debt was recently reduced to junk status), the paper’s future doesn’t look good.

Now up to this point I agree with the precepts provided by the author. But then we get into this thicket of analysis —

If you’re hearing few howls and seeing little rending of garments over the impending death of institutional, high-quality journalism, it’s because the public at large has been trained to undervalue journalists and journalism. The Internet has done much to encourage lazy news consumption, while virtually eradicating the meaningful distinctions among newspaper brands. …

It is not the consumer that has undervalued Journalism but journalism itself that undervalued its product. Once that occurred the consumer saw the difference and went to greener pastures. The J schools went about teaching the production process but has forgotten to teach the gumshoe search for the inner story. Its so much easier to just take the pink sheet copy from the press office of the Corporation, Senator or White House. As to the sameness of print today. That’s their own fault. When consolidation and syndication occurs what do you expect out of ‘A’ section? There are only so many sources to pull from.

But is all lost? As a medium pulp is dead. But the voices that used to appear in it are not. There is a massive opportunity for reporters to strike out on their own as part of a syndicate. I only have to point to Michael Yon who is probably THE resident expert on most things Iraq or Afghanistan. He covers the area like no other and he serves it up ‘neat’ like a good reporter should. There are video news stringers all over the major cities that do this. Its tough business but then before the ‘J’ crowd went ‘professional’ on us the history of good reporting and publishing is repleat with beatings, murder, arson and mayhem. And that was just for the morning edition!

Linky
HT: Instapundit

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