The Age of the Mass Media is Just That An Age

"It doesn't have to last forever", said Jay Rosen at the World Economic Forum in January 2004 explaining, that we are in a process reinventing the communication techniques of an earlier era, when a learned elite exchanged knowledge and opinion via private correspondence and technology makes it now possible to extend that exchange to a broad audience.

Leonard Witt points to this quote after reading Richard Pérez-Pena's report in the New York Times (23-June-2008)


Papers Facing Worst Year for Ad Revenue

Quote:
"Analysts and newspaper executives find themselves revising their forecasts downward every few months, unable to gain a stable footing on a sinking floor. Papers have cut costs by shedding thousands of workers, eliminating some distribution routes and printing fewer, smaller pages, but profit margins continue to shrink ..."

I find it somehow strange, that newspapers executives and journalist are morning together about the danger of losing a cultural achievement and guarantor of democracy and blame the Internet and the previous so called readers to do all evil to (them and) our culture. On the other hand newspaper executives and investors seem to applaud, every time they can reduce staff, down size the newsroom, down size the paper, reduce the number of pages, 'losing' (getting rid of under-) paid circulation to safe cost and increase profit (but for how long?).

They execrate their 'readers' and the Internet for an F.O.C. culture and deliver their news on paper cheaper (and much below costs) than most / any Telco’s to your doorsteps and keep whining aloud (and only then), if their financier-advertiser move on because they have better ways to communicate with their existing and future clients.

Please wake up and adapt you revenue model. Whether you are in the paper business, investment business, advertising business, news business, in journalism, do it and do it good!