WordblogJournalism in a changing world

Suddenly the debate about the future of printed newspapers has come alive. Those who believe papers have a strong future are coming out of their shells — the latest, the editors of The New Republic who say: “The crisis in newspapers relates more to perceptions than the actual bottom line.” (via Romenesko)

The New Republic says: “The long-term decline in newspaper readership can be largely attributed to the death of the evening paper. The circulation of morning papers has actually risen by about 60 percent since 1980.”

Of course, when a paper closes many of the readers will migrate. But the loss of evening papers largely resulted from social changes before the advent of online news. What is threatening newspapers now has a different character — the shift to online reading and the migration of advertising.

The editors of The New Republic end their case thus:

As stewards of their papers, the Sulzbergers, the Grahams, and the Bancrofts have exuded the best spirit of Progressive-era elites, a commitment to reform and independence. But, with Wall Street imperiling their legacy, it’s time for the families to begin considering a different path. If the stock market won’t properly value their companies, then they should find investors who will help them take their companies private–and keep them out of Rupert Murdoch’s long grasp.

Much of The New Republic article concerns Murdoch’s bid to acquire Dow Jones and its paper, the Wall Street Journal, which is not a good example. Dow Jones is in the financial information business and like the Thomson-Reuters deal underlines the importance that valuable commodity.

The New Republic follows several other American commentators and a presentation in London by Gavin K O’Reilly, president of the World Association of Newspapers and boss at Independent News & Media, in maintaining the strength of printed papers.

The debate over the impact of the internet is polarised. One one side there are some apostles of new media who seem gleeful whenever they can find evidence to support the imminent death of print

On the other side are those like O’Reilly who believe that “there has been no paradigm shift”.

In the middle are those of us who believe that there is a huge change taking place and that it is foolish not to try to find a way to ensure a strong future for the kind of journalism that we value.

Denying change is not going to help but neither is promotion of the idea is that mainstream media is in its death throes as armies of citizen journalists storm the press rooms.