Other places I write
If you think I don’t post to this blog often enough, consider reading my other, work-related blog, where I post more often.
What I'm Reading
- Apple to Unveil its Next Move in Music?CBS News | Aug 30, 2010Apple has scheduled a big event for Wednesday. CBS News speculates on the company's coming announcements.
- Can Preschoolers Be Depressed?New York Times | Aug 25, 2010Some psychologists believe preschoolers can experience bouts of depression, this New York Times report says.
- Electronic Arts stands by Medal of Honor Taliban featureCNET | Aug 25, 2010EA defends the ability to play as Taliban soldiers in the upcoming "Medal of Honor" game.
- Twitter’s not stupid – you just have boring friendswww.andrewdubber.com | Aug 16, 2010A nice look at how to get the most out of Twitter and refutation of some common Twitter complaints.
- Is 3-D dead in the water? A box-office analysisSlate | Aug 24, 2010Slate magazine looks at whether people are happy with just two dimensions in their movies, thank you very much.
- Apple to Unveil its Next Move in Music?
Recent Comments
My Clips- Cause of plane crash west of Bozeman under investigation, pilot pronounced dead at scene August 31, 2010
- The man who wanted train horns August 16, 2010
- Money well spent? August 15, 2010
- Local telecom company gets $64 million to bring high-speed Internet to rural Gallatin County August 5, 2010
- Montana Opticom receives $64 million in stimulus money for rural broadband August 4, 2010
- AT&T to replace Alltel in Montana within a year June 25, 2010
- Bozeman twin looks to scale namesake peak: K2 June 21, 2010
- High water claims Amsterdam Road bridge June 12, 2010
- Trio of veteran Belgrade teachers retiring June 7, 2010
- MSU robot digger wins NASA competition May 29, 2010
Michael Becker has been blogging about academia, digital culture and journalism since 2005. He is the Web editor of the
About
Newspapers, as a business, are in trouble. Since the late 1990s, when the Web really became popular, their strength and authority has been sapped by the fact that the papers offer most of their content for free online.
While this has ruined the business side of news, it has created a revolution in the way people consume, create, use and remix news. I think the change is a positive thing, but I also think that something’s going to have to be done to make sure that news outlets can make enough money to keep it up.
In coming up with ideas about how to “save newspapers,” which is more or less what this blog is about, we have to remember to separate the concepts of “newspaper” and “journalism.” They are not the same thing. Journalism is not in danger. Journalism, in the sense of reporting facts to readers who need to know those facts, will continue regardless of what medium carries it. Newspapers, however, are an endangered species.
Are newspapers, as in the newsprint paper with rub-off, hand-blackening ink, worth saving, or do we need to be looking for new ideas to carry us into the future? Big questions.
I’m glad I don’t have to answer them all at once. Read the blog. Read other blogs. Let’s get to work.
Internet. Serious Business.