Printed newspapers dead in ten years?

[gordo]

Newspapers could be dead in ten years suggests New York Times boss - as company plans for a future when 'print is over':

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5385169/New-York-Times-stop-printing-10-years-says-CEO.html

 

[Gianni_S]

Hi Gordo,
I write from the old continent. What I see here is not different from there, and I don't like it.
Personally I see the printing business dying. And it is dying not so slowly…
What will remain is packaging, because everyone love to unbox something fine packed.
But everything else, books, catalogue and so on… I can't see a long future.
New media are collecting more and more fame in every level of our society. Need a hint or looking for IKEA munt instruction? No problem, Google and a second later you have everything you need.
That's the future.
Printed paper will be like vinyl discs… something for collectors.
I really hope to be totally wrong!

See ya!

G:

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

Hi Gordo,
I write from the old continent. What I see here is not different from there, and I don't like it.
Personally I see the printing business dying. And it is dying not so slowly…
What will remain is packaging, because everyone love to unbox something fine packed.
But everything else, books, catalogue and so on… I can't see a long future.
New media are collecting more and more fame in every level of our society. Need a hint or looking for IKEA munt instruction? No problem, Google and a second later you have everything you need.
That's the future.
Printed paper will be like vinyl discs… something for collectors.
I really hope to be totally wrong!

See ya!

G:

As a 26-year-old newcomer to the industry, I think you are wrong. I think print will live through my life, as a high value communications device, more effective than computers. There's a reason why textbooks are still being printed and only lower tier or online universities are continuing with a strong push towards digital textbooks. We might be seeing less print jobs on crazy 4 color presses, but I am certainly seeing more high value, high profit digital jobs as each year goes by. Although, I could be completely wrong and tomorrow could be out on the street looking for a job.

 

[dabob]

I've gotta throw my 2 cents in here, been in printing since before I could really remember, my Dad was the Asst. Prod. Manager for the Detroit News when I was just out of diapers and the family stayed in that strange and wonderful world until about 1977 when I was getting out of school. He worked for the Houston Chronicle, the San Francisco papers in addition. Recently he went back and visited the Chronicle, talked to his old employee whe has retired as the #1 gun in the company and is still walking the floors at least weekly. This company has made the transistion to the web based new service and while it may be changing away from ink on paper the news structure has remained about the same, real reporters, real editors, and real publishers - none of this web based "I have a website and I can publish anything I want (true or not0. The largest loss that I see is that the integrity of the "news" has been compromised by the number of persons with an axe to grind and 50 bucks for a website and internet access so they can make like their delusions are in fact "news" while in the old day they couldn't have made the letters to the editor section let alone the op/ed page . . .

All part of the dumbing down of society - This is IMHO the result of losing the "fourth estate" and entering the world of the techo world of the "fifth estate" who is loyal only to their own viewpoints.

 

[Puch]

The largest loss that I see is that the integrity of the "news" has been compromised by the number of persons with an axe to grind and 50 bucks for a website and internet access

Hah, the press and the omnipotent editors who knew everything...

There is a flipside to that. Imagine a country (even yours, today, if you're open to an alternative reality) where the government control is so strong that no one can publish anything which is not 'in-line' with the mainstream agenda. I happen to grow up in a country like this (almost parallel with you): there were only newspapers approved by the Party, printing houses have to report _any_ kind of job order to the central administration. The stencil machine in our school was behind iron bars and the room could be opened only when two persons from the management were present with their own different keys (no kidding).

A society living like this has a great use of those '50 bucks' sites, hosted on servers worth no more than another 50 bucks. As our freedoms getting chipped away on a daily base, I see that those sites telling 'thruth' might worth some time to visit, just to learn about some other viewpoints, differing from the so called "news".

 

[dabob]

That is precisely what I was talking about . . . the fourth estate, was an independent source of honest information . . . and when overlooked by adversarial people who made sure that it was "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth" sadly it's not that way any more=

 

[maas]

I see the current business model (the infotainment, copy & paste from twitter type) as having little life left, however i have seen instances where public owned publishers sell titles to private entities (sometimes as a management buyout) where the paper becomes very successful after reverting to a hyperlocal newspaper about the community and supported by the community.