Ken Paulson: Newspapers ... the iPod of the 17th century
[Mr. Paulson is the outgoing editor of USA Today. He's leaving to become #2 at the Newseum.]
You have to separate the troubled economy from the special challenges facing the news industry, and it's important that we not undervalue the power of print.
I can certainly understand why newspapers are not viewed as trendy. After all, they were really the iPods of 1690.
But humor me, and consider this alternate history: Imagine if Gutenberg had invented a digital modem rather than a printing press, and that for centuries all of our information had come to us online.
Further, imagine if we held a press conference announcing the invention of an intriguing new product called the "newspaper."
That press conference might go something like this:
"We're pleased to announce a new product that will revolutionize the way you access information. It will save you time and money and keep you better informed than ever before.
"Just consider the hours you've spent on the internet looking for information of interest to you. We've hired specialists who live and work in your hometown to cull information sources and provide a daily report tailored to your community, your friends and your neighbors.
"We also know that you sometimes wonder whether you can trust the information you see online. We plan to introduce a painstaking new process called "fact-checking" in which we actually verify the information before we pass it along to you....
Read entire article at National Press Club
You have to separate the troubled economy from the special challenges facing the news industry, and it's important that we not undervalue the power of print.
I can certainly understand why newspapers are not viewed as trendy. After all, they were really the iPods of 1690.
But humor me, and consider this alternate history: Imagine if Gutenberg had invented a digital modem rather than a printing press, and that for centuries all of our information had come to us online.
Further, imagine if we held a press conference announcing the invention of an intriguing new product called the "newspaper."
That press conference might go something like this:
"We're pleased to announce a new product that will revolutionize the way you access information. It will save you time and money and keep you better informed than ever before.
"Just consider the hours you've spent on the internet looking for information of interest to you. We've hired specialists who live and work in your hometown to cull information sources and provide a daily report tailored to your community, your friends and your neighbors.
"We also know that you sometimes wonder whether you can trust the information you see online. We plan to introduce a painstaking new process called "fact-checking" in which we actually verify the information before we pass it along to you....