The Death March of Newspapers

From Blogger Scott Testa

Print media are dying. They are blaming the current economy and the decline of advertising and classified sales as the culprit of their troubles. Here are some other factors that explain the downfall of the newspaper business.

Most newspapers are either very liberal or very conservative. Readers are growing weary of this. They want unbiased news reporting, not slant. By the way, network television news better learn quickly from print media on this one before it's too late for you, too!

With the exception of the bi-fold newspapers, the “technology” and packaging have not changed in decades. Please name me one other “product” that has not evolved in what seems like forever.

Print media blame the Internet and cable news channels for their loss of business. To some point, there is truth in that, as the immediacy of the ‘net and cable is hard to challenge, unless you actually provide your readers in-depth facts and knowledge they cannot readily find elsewhere. Keep in mind that the Internet and cable news channels are also usually slanted, and only give superficial attention to the stories that they report on.

Today’s reporting is like politics, all about the “gotcha.” That’s not what readers want, but how many newspapers do you know that actively interact with their readers in a way that provides them with the needed feedback to better service their readers?

At some point, if printed media do want to survive, they must stop acting like the victim of a tragedy and instead start reacting like a boxer who has been hit with a body blow: get up, regroup and fight back!