by The newspaper is dead. It’s only a matter of moments before we start wiping up the blood and burning the bits of leftover pulp to ash. We have absolutely zero sympathy for a medium that denied their own end and propagated the memes of the demise of their profitability.
Phil Bronstein — San Francisco Chronicle editor at large and former Mr. Sharon Stone — explained to the New York Times this week how the only hope in keeping newspapers alive in the short term was betting the farm on the slower demise of the longer-living into the ever-after:
His [Bronstein’s] tour ended with cold comfort, as he observed that longer life expectancies may keep us on life support. “For people who still love print, who like to hold it, feel it, rustle it, tear stuff out, do their I. F. Stone thing, it’s important to remember that people are living longer,” he said. “That’s the most hopeful thing you can say about print journalism, that old people are living longer.”
The quicker the newspapers are put out of their misery, the faster the rest of us can get around to doing for free what used to be the business of their day.
I like holding a paper as much as the next person but it seems inevitable that they will crumble away in the face of competition from the Kindle and online news.
I agree, Gordon, that pushing out a paper newspaper every day can’t last in the current or future economy. Paper, ink, offices, delivery, gasoline, etc. are just way too expensive now in the face of declining advertising revenue.
I started reading newspapers online 5 years back, I still don’t read hard copies – it’s efficient, easy and quick!