[MGP-Forum Announce] ebook readers and the future of newspapers

[Lise LePage]

This has been a really interesting discussion. About the main topic,  
I don't think ebook readers are the future of newspapers.  But I do  
think that daily newspapers may one day become a thing of the past,  
cost of printing and distribution, declining subscriptions and all  
that.  In fact, I think it's inevitable. One reason I think this is  
because I don't buy them anymore.  Almost never.  But I read articles  
from probably dozens of newspapers online.  And I used to buy the  
paper every single day -- the reason I don't anymore is that I don't  
have to and it's easier and more convenient to read online.

That said, I think there are a lot of people out there (including me)  
who will want to read journals printed on paper, but maybe less  
often.  I can see a time when most newspapers would be distributed  
via the web site, with a weekly print version, available by  
subscription and at news stands.  That would satisfy most needs, I  
think, at least as far as readers (of the future) are concerned.  But  
first, they've got to figure out a way to make it profitable, which I  
think will happen when Internet usage is as extensive as television  
ownership.

Technology is changing things in all areas of media.  Like right now,  
the DVD is hot, but the cd is fading.  It's so much easier to just  
download tracks on your computer.  And again, although I thought I'd  
never stop buying records, I have.  And so have a lot of other  
people.   We never went back to cassette tapes.  We probably won't go  
back to the daily paper either, or at least not in the form we know  
now.  And it will probably work out ok because information wants to  
be free, and it will find a way to get out whether or not it's  
printed on a page.  I'm sure people will be able to make money by  
producing it in digestible form.

As for local news, which Robin was talking about, I'm very interested  
in that, since our media outlet, iBrattleboro, covers a town (after a  
fashion) and not a very big town at that.  We have a local paper, the  
Media News-owned Reformer.  When we started out, the paper was in a  
real slump, with not enough staff and a lot of wire service stories.   
But in the last couple years, they seem much more committed to  
covering the local scene, and not just town meetings.  We think  
competition with iBratt might have had something to do with it.  Back  
in the day, cities used to have more than one newspaper and there  
were lots of reporters covering local news.  Now with just one paper  
in most places, I wonder if some of the fire hasn't gone out of the  
reporters, who don't really have to kill themselves to get stories  
because no one's there to scoop them.

And then finally, I wanted to say that I'm really worried about our  
democracy, what with the torture bill and other legislative  
atrocities.  But at the same time, I'm glad that journalists are  
taking their roles seriously, because we really need them. I think  
overall, the national coverage as well as the local coverage is  
getting stronger and more confident than it had been, which is a good  
thing. Journalism is so important. Anyway, I think it's great that  
we're able to have this discussion, and I feel privileged to be part  
of it.

cheers,
Lise
iBrattleboro.com




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