Why should newspapers ask readers to save them?
Death of Newspapers (from www.freerepublic.com)
I just came across this article from a German newsite: The great extinction of the American newspaper
Great title. And some interesting points raised. But I must get out my soapbox regarding one of the conclusions that the author makes.
“But there is still hope that the American readers will wake up to the death of their newspapers the same way they did to climate protection.”
Yes, climate protection is now a known issue – but to insinuate that the general public has woken up to it in enough of an extent to protect against the negative consequences is surely wishful thinking. Even if they had, the comparison with newspapers is laughable. Why would the general public now want to save newspapers, when it is the very fact of their changing demand that has caused the decline of newspapers in the first place!
Of course its a massive pity to see newspapers decline, and certainly to see journalists and other staff lose their jobs, but the public will not be the saviour, and neither should they be. The newspapers themselves have that responsibility. Keep up with the changing world of media distribution and media business models, or lose audience, revenue, and eventually everything.
Many people at newspapers and magazines that I have spoken to are working hard on making that turn-around happen. And those that are making the change with some degree of success are certainly not taking the perspective of a charity and trying to solicit more revenue or readership on the basis of pity. People will not start to buy print newspapers again just so that they have the option to do so in the future, by keeping the company afloat.