Keep printing?

I've chosen the topic of '"selling" newspapers in a digital age' for my J203 term project. I've just begun my research, and a few days ago came across this excellent blog by Alan Mutter. He has a lot to say about the future of the newspaper business, some of it quite at odds with what I've been hearing elsewhere, for example this: "almost every newspaper company still needs to print newspapers if it wants to stay in business."

High Demand for Post-Election Newspapers

It comes as no surprise that Tuesday's election sent newspaper sales skyrocketing. "Apparently looking for something old to go with something new (Barack Obama) and something blue (a more Democratic Congress), the American people bought newspapers in huge numbers Wednesday, a day after the historic election of the nation's first black president," wrote James Rainey in today's LA Times. My sentiments exactly.

I usually read the New York Times online (unless I want to do the crossword puzzle), but yesterday morning I made a point of snagging one of the remaining free copies UO provides to students. Somehow holding the paper in my hands and seeing the word "Obama" across the top made the election results real for me. Up until that point I think I half believed that it could be undone (maybe that's just because I'm from Ohio).

Maybe I should have grabbed a few copies. They seem to be a hot commodity.

My copy is not for sale, however. I'd like to show it to my future children one day and let them try to imagine a time when people doubted that we could have a black president and you could read about it in something called a "newspaper."

Moving Away from Print Media

Here's a segment from PBS News Hour about some significant new developments in the move away from print media. The panel of guests includes Mark Glaser who wrote an optimistic entry on the future of journalism in his blog, Mediashift.

For a darker perspective on what's to come check out Epic 2014, a short film about the hypothetical future of the industry.