DISQUS

Terry Heaton · 10 months ago

I concur, Stowe, but here's another weakness to the argument. Issacson (and many others) use the Wall St. Journal to make the case that paid "works." However, a significant number of WSJ subscriptions are paid for by corporate America, not individual executives who benefit.

stoweboyd · 10 months ago

Good point.

Brachinus · 10 months ago

I think his point is that young people read more newspaper content (in print plus online) than before.

But I don't know if that's true, and at any rate he's wrong for lots of other reasons.

bigyaz · 10 months ago

That's the extent of your "analysis" of his ideas? Weak, man. Offer up something that shows you've actually given this some thought.

stoweboyd · 10 months ago

Thanks for your insightful comment.

Paul Gillin · 10 months ago

I believe Isaacson's point was that young people are still consuming newspaper content, even though most of it is online. The paradox for newspapers is that their editorial product is in high demand but the means to monetize it has changed. I'm not convinced that a micropayments model won't work, but it has to involve a coordinated effort by publishers along with a PR campaign by journalists and public figures to convince the public that vital sources of information are going to disappear without support. The RIAA didn't build a new revenue model for the recording industry. Bands like Metallica did.

Alan · 10 months ago

Paul, I agree with everything you say up to the last sentence. IIRC Metallica was one of the groups that railed against their own fans and continued to support the heavy handed measures of the RIAA. The pioneer that really changed the music biz was Steve Jobs and the ITunes store. Now with venders like Amazon on board the shift is well underway and the traditional outlets are being left behind.

Alan · 10 months ago

Isaacson didn't say that more young people are literally reading newspapers. He said that they are getting their news from newspapers (i.e., the publishers of newspapers) for free online. That's quite different from what you suggest. I recall reading elsewhere that the New York Times now has the largest readership ever, but the subscription revenue of its print edition is shrinking (hence the price increase two years straight).

Yes, newspapers will need to shift their focus from the product to the consumer to understand the best delivery method that also produces the financial basis to support its production.