The Death of Newspapers
A newspaper’s most important product, the product least vulnerable to substitution, is community influence. It gains this influence by being the trusted source for locally produced news, analysis and investigative reporting about public affairs. This influence makes it more attractive to advertisers.
In The Elite Newspaper of the Future, Meyer points to the rise of alternative media as the standard bearer of information in our culture. In contrast, newspapers struggle to keep up with our increasingly narrow interests. News media is certainly more diversified today than it was 15 years ago. This can be good when you’re looking for an alternate perspective on an issue, but bad when you accept one interpretation as fact and another purely as partisan bias.
Citizen journalism is on the rise and playing a larger role in our public discourse. When Daily Kos spread rumors about Palin’s daughter and youngest son last month, it subsequently altered the mainstream media’s access to the VP nominee at a time when the public needs it most. The rumors were quickly proven false. And we’re now paying the price of an overzealous progressive movement’s grip on information.
Citizen journalism is a good, good thing when the pedestal is used responsibly, but what about when it’s not used responsibly? Even in today’s hyper-aggressive media culture, would we ever see a responsible news organization publish rumor as fact without evoking scandal and a string of apologies and corrections from the editors?
What is the economic disincentive for keeping citizen journalism in check?
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