The Future of the Newspaper

I once worked for the local newspaper distribution center. I was always amazed by how dependant customers were on their paper! If I missed a house, you better bet they'd be calling first thing in the morning to complain and ask how could I have missed them!? They seemed dependant on the paper not just for their news, but for their morning! Like coffee, reading the paper sets a tone for the day for so many. As a matter of fact, the two often go hand in hand.... nothing like coffee and a paper, & not just in the morning but for any down time during the day.

As beloved as our traditional printed newspaper is, all around the world, there is fierce competition that has moved in and is giving our neighborly distribution centers a run for their money! By now, it's no secret to most that the internet has moved in and is posing a threat to many of our traditional methods of doing things, from the way we communicate and the way we shop to the way we stay in the loop with current events things are changing and at lightening bolt speed!

Blogs, for example, rather than being considered measly online diaries, are being given much more credit now a days! Bare with me, I'm new to the blogging world, but just a quick search on the web brings evidence of a strong relationship between online blogs being published and the publishing our newspapers are producing! Online blogs have been credited with leaks, gossip columns, debates, breaking news and I'm sure more! Point being that online publishing is getting easier and easier! And while reliability may be a matter now, speculation persists that it's only a matter of time before sites like blogger.com cast a shadow on the al mighty newspaper!

Now, while this all seems very interesting and fits right along with the rest of the dramatic changes taking place around the world, lets not get too carried away. Newspapers may have some competition and maybe even some catching up to do, but is the demise of the newspaper really creeping around the corner? As dreary as it may look at the present time, the internet is not only an enemy to the newspaper but also a friend! With the development of digital newspapers and digital editors, newspapers are finding ways to be more accessible, more portable, more up to date, cutting edge and reach more demographics! There is vast untouched potential there!

So, I may be being an optimist, but perhaps the fall of print only means the rise of digi news. So often after one cake crumbles we bake one ten times better! What if instead of a collapse, the newspaper industry is on the break of a boom... a good boom?! In my opinion, if they play their cards right, and in a timely matter, even with posed threats such as blogging, google, yahoo, etc., the newspapers still have a huge lead being extremely established and greatly respected within the information industry and our culture! If they can get hip to the game quick enough and use this push for change to their advantage, I strongly think they could pull out of this ahead of the pack and ahead of where they once were! Time will tell....