Sunday, January 29, 2006

Is local news the future of newspapers? As is often the case, a note in one of the local blogs just sent me off on more than an hour of browsing through a huge cross-linked online discussion. The topic is the future of newspapers. The new twist is that the blogger pointing me off into cyberspace is the editor of the local newspaper. News Sentinel editor Jack McElroy's item was a few days old by the time I saw it, and it had only attracted four local comments. Maybe that was because his readers are still off following links. The blog he sent us to, on the other hand, had accumulated 88 follow-up commenters when I got there. The discussion was launched by media-watcher Jeff Jarvis, who carries a picture of a huge old newspaper "web press" across the top of his weblog, "The BuzzMachine." The "new news" buzz he started rolling this time is a discussion of things newspapers might stop doing in order to do a better job on local news. For example, Jarvis wonders whether stock tables, some opinion columns and "me-too" coverage of national stories by local reporters would be missed. He promises a follow-up item on things newspapers should do. It's good to see our local newspaper editor asking readers what they think. For folks on the television side of the news biz, there's also food for thought this week from Ted Koppel, summarized here in Editor & Publisher. Koppel's actual comments are in The New York Times, where his new column is part of the "Times Select" pay-as-you-go online service. Koppel surprised E&P, a newspaper industry magazine, by suggesting that the TV networks consider focus on serving older viewers, who "may actually have an appetite for serious news," rather than watering down their product to attract a younger audience. E&P's comment: "Is there a lesson for newspapers here?" 5:13:20 PM

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