An interesting read, some of which I agree with. Yes, journalism is not failing, it’s financial structure is, but we don’t help ourselves. Most readers don’t really care for good journalism – they want sensationalism and short reads. Which is just horrible for good writers, because so much good work is dismissed because it is too “complicated” for the audience, which essentially means it the readership has to “think” about what is written.
As for the business side, I’ve said it for years. Paywalls need to go up, print publications and online subscriptions need to be folded into one, (hard copies need to be sent regardless, because it will boost circulation, which will boost advertising revenue) and more of an effort needs to be taken to fight these search engines that steal original content so often that it largely goes ignored.
The dollars are out there. So let’s stop giving the content away for free.
Here is Matthew Ingram’s take on it for Gigaom. Journalism Is Doing Fine, Thanks – It’s Mass Media Business Models That Are Ailing
MichaelPerrota.com 