Is it any wonder the papers are dying?

Written By: - Date published: 4:34 pm, June 18th, 2009 - 19 comments
Categories: interweb - Tags: ,

Taken just now from the front page of Stuff.co.nz:

Picture 33

Here’s something a little more substantial you might enjoy.

19 comments on “Is it any wonder the papers are dying? ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Duncan 1
    18 June 2009 at 4:36 pm

    I don’t think I could continue in my job as editor if I had to put my name to this pap.

  2. Lew 2
    18 June 2009 at 4:49 pm

    Obligatory: “they’re just resting”.

    L

  3. bobo 3
    18 June 2009 at 4:51 pm

    Nice how biggest US financial reforms makes last place… class

  4. all_your_base 4
    18 June 2009 at 4:55 pm

    Don’t hold your breath bobo. In all likelyhood it’s about to get knocked off the bottom by this breaking story:

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/2512559/Chinas-one-pooch-policy

  5. Merlin 5
    18 June 2009 at 5:01 pm

    Outragous! They’ve knocked off the real story of the day, which was on the editor’s pick list a few hours ago: “Sex-starved emu seeks mate”

    … now that’s journalism!

  6. the sprout 6
    18 June 2009 at 5:13 pm

    Oh the valiant guardians of democracy that are our mighty 4th Estate.

  7. MyFlatHasMould 7
    18 June 2009 at 5:28 pm

    Hey, don’t be so harsh. They are a business need I add more?

  8. Cyclone 8
    18 June 2009 at 5:37 pm

    And just how is Stuff a newspaper?

  9. Dan 9
    18 June 2009 at 6:34 pm

    Mark Twain; Pat Booth….they might have an opinion!

  10. Byron 10
    18 June 2009 at 10:46 pm

    In this on the day the trade minister is in Apia negotiating an important free trade agreement with Pacific states. Nothing on 3 News about that today either.

    Captha: Mr Talmuds

  11. burt 11
    19 June 2009 at 12:15 am

    The proliferation of high powered smart phones/pda’s and mobile broadband will further decimate the print news media.

    They MSM have to start worrying when they are pilfering stories off blog sites! Still it must be a real bastard being accountable for the things you publish. How many blogs would survive under those conditions?

  12. BLiP 12
    19 June 2009 at 12:47 am

    Even more tragic than the “Editor’s Picks” is often the “Most Popular” listing. Perhaps the media is just serving up what the punters want?

    • Lew 12.1
      19 June 2009 at 8:01 am

      BLiP,

      Perhaps the media is just serving up what the punters want?

      No shit. It’s a market. Easier to follow a market than lead it. More profitable if you can lead it, but devilishly hard to do.

      If you want better-quality content, and better choiced, demand it.

      L

  13. Maggie 13
    19 June 2009 at 9:33 am

    The previous editor of the Dom Post, Tim Pankhurst, was once quoted as saying producing a daily newspaper was like being in show business. He never denied having said it.

    It explains a lot about the newspaper under his watch: the smartarse headlines, the blurring of factual reporting and comment and the paper’s superficial approach.

    I had a vague hope that under a new editor the DP might improve. No sign so far.

  14. all_your_base 14
    19 June 2009 at 11:34 am

    Seriously though, anyone got any ideas about where this is heading? The papers being “agnostic as to platform” (as per the NYT editor) ain’t going to save them if the advertising revenue’s going elsewhere. Internet advertising isn’t yet adequate to (and may not ever?) cover the shortfall. Subscriptions aren’t likely to work when people can get content elsewhere for free.

    Of course it’s really less about saving papers and more about saving journalism.

    Maybe if you’re Amazon or Google or Apple you start with the device or platform (Kindle/Android/iPhone) that the content will eventually be delivered to to help you secure the channel? Apple showed it could work with music, maybe the same approach for news?

  15. phenol 15
    19 June 2009 at 11:40 am

    anyone got any ideas about where this is heading

    Ex-Herald editor Gavin Ellis is doing a PhD on it at Auckland, he might know.

    Gavin Ellis, Old Media, New Models: This study examines the effect that different ownership and management structures have on the ability of news media organisation to cope with the effects of fundamental changes in media economics caused by the growth of the Internet and the migration of audiences to it. The study examines media organisations in Australasia, North America and the British Isles.

  16. the dude abides 16
    21 June 2009 at 12:09 pm

    Don’t be silly — those weren’t headlines on the front pages of Fairfax papers. Stuff is an entirely different beast, more angled towards sex and celebrity. The daily papers are more serious than the website, which kind of disproves your point: the list above could more easily be used to argue that newspapers are dying because readers don’t want serious, quality information.

The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.