As the Internet advances, what will be the sequins of vents for the future of newspapers?
And what of journalists and staff that may no longer have jobs?
If it’s Goodbye to Newspapers, what’s next? “The age of the newspaper baron is over, and the media tycoon does not tend to be terribly interested in democracy.
“The loss of advertising and circulation revenue to companies such as Google and Yahoo, which remain uninterested in funding reporting staff; the rise of a Wall Street theory that says profits can be maximized by minimizing the product; and an uncritical deference to power particularly among the Washington press elite have each helped to undermine not just the business models underpinning independent journalism, but also its ability to supply information the citizenry needs for democracy to work.
“Is it so difficult for wizened newspaper men, and their cherished readers both young and old, to test out some new funding models?’
Perhaps we can let journalism drift. Perhaps hiring writers to inform us will become unnecessary.
We could try other methods. Open Access has its promoters. Librarians might lead our media. Why not?
Imagine a world where anyone can instantly access all of the world’s scholarly knowledge – as profound a change as the invention of the printing press. Technically, this is within reach.
All that is needed is a little imagination, to reconsider the economics of scholarly communications from a poetic viewpoint.