The Downfall of the Paper

I’m sick of people bemoaning the downfall of journalism. We’re in one of the most exciting periods in the history of news since the invention of the printing press. Once the Internet shake-up settles down, journalism will be forever changed and we’ll wonder (even more than already) how we ever lived before.

The latest doom-sayer is David Simon, producer for “The Wire” and former newspaperman. From the Washington Post this Sunday:

Isn’t the news itself still valuable to anyone? In any format, through any medium — isn’t an understanding of the events of the day still a salable commodity? Or were we kidding ourselves? Was a newspaper a viable entity only so long as it had classifieds, comics and the latest sports scores?

He points to the shrinking coverage of local papers, the rise of celebrity and soft news, and declining circulations as evidence no one from the newsroom to the news reader cares about news anymore.

Really, though, people are more news-savvy than ever before. Sure, newspapers are going through a tough time, but that’s because their mindset’s all wrong.

Simon admits that “Newsprint itself is an anachronism,” but then suggests that newspapers could have fought the rise of the Internet:

But was there a moment before the deluge of the Internet when news organizations might have better protected themselves and their product? When they might have — as one, industry-wide — declared that their online advertising would be profitable, that their websites would, in fact, charge for providing a rare and worthy service?

The Internet isn’t something newspapers should be fighting, or something they missed their chance to quash. Also, however, a newspaper’s website is not equal to the print edition. A newspaper’s website is the newspaper. The print edition is a luxury. Why doesn’t anyone understand this?

Yes, there are still questions concerning how to monetize the website, but technology will help us there. There are no lack of companies trying to figure out easier and more lucrative ways to get money from web surfers.

I give it 30 years before the New York Times goes web-only. By 2018 the print edition will be a quaint artifact mainly for old people and Luddites, like rotary phones or Polaroid cameras. After all, why buy a paper newspaper when I can just read the paper from my cellphone? Also, aren’t those things made from trees?

P.S.: I hear “The Wire” is awesome, I really want to start watching it.