Honors contract: The future of the newspaper industry

Extract

[...] Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation committee meeting, Future of Journalism: Communications, Technology and the Internet.” This seems a step in the right direction—government may not be a first-choice solution, but we may have reached that point. Kamiya suggests government intervention; otherwise real, face-to-face reporting will be gone, as we won't be able to fund it. Swensen and Schmidt suggest newspaper endowments to save newspapers. They suggest philanthropists and other wealthy (elites) begin to recognize newspapers as a worthy cause. [...]

[...] It needs to be recognized that by reducing original reporting and newspapers, we are giving the power of information to unknown sources—a scary thought. Background/Facts: Newspapers are losing money; circulation is down. According to the documentary “News (2007) 50 million people still buy newspapers, but these numbers are dwindling. Swensen and Schmidt (Jan. 2009) note that The Washington Post has 25 percent less average profit margins, while The New York Times is hitting 50 percent losses. While working at the Sacramento Bee, The California Aggie Editor-in-Chief Adam Loberstein reported a 30 percent cut to the reporting staff. [...]

[...] Furthermore, he finds that newspapers have some basic problems, that once addressed could solve a lot of their financial problems. First, Loberstein says the newspaper industry is at fault with its product. That is to say, they are selling old news by the time papers are printed. They need to sell a different product that can't be found elsewhere: original and smart commentary and analysis of the news. This will help newspapers two-fold: a need for trained writers will continue and the product will be new, giving newspapers a purpose and a reason to be needed. [...]