Don't get complacent

Journalist Dale Peskin argues that newspapers shouldn't get too smug about the dot com crash, and that new media could spell the end for newsprint. His reasons: (1) Everyone is a journalist. Hacks are no longer uniquely qualified to inform. Communities and networks can be much more effective than one-directional broadcasting of information. (2) Consumers place a low value on online newspapers. Newspapers provide information - but people want entertainment nowadays. "News organizations thrive — or fail — on their ability to create experiential stories, and their ability to create products and services that evoke emotion." And newspapers may not be best qualified to do this. (3) Content is not king. "The capability to connect consumers — one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many — is more valued than the capability to produce content." (4) The Internet is rendering newspapers obsolete. "Two emerging economies provide models for growth and a future. A service-based economy enables access to a variety of paid-for services delivered through electronic networks. An attention-based economy enables news companies to create a new kind of wealth based on their capacity to extend their brands and their stories."
(From American Press Institute)