Will Bunch Moves Closer To The Edge, But There’s No Crowd To Yell “Jump!”
This is really quite sad:
Tierney should have communicated the cash flow problems sooner than he did, and I worry that just about everyone here is a little too rigid in a situation that will take some creative thinking of the type we’re not used to here in Philly. But the problems in the newspaper biz are far too deep for playing a “blame game” at this late date
[...]A year ago, I was frustrated that the newspaper world was too locked in the ideas of the past, and much to my surprise, much of the industry has embraced new ways of thinking — about things like blogging, opinion, and using the Web to break news — much faster than I’d dreamed possible. Six months ago, when people were talking about closing the Daily News based on bad or outdated information, I and many others fought to change the very nature of the debate — and we succeeded.
Now, a brick wall.
Is Chicken Little finally right? Is the printy sky falling in Philadelphia? Are either of the papers sustainable? Do you even care, you digital slave? Is physical experience itself going the way of the dodo? Brothers and sisters, let’s dance up the comments.
Attytood: Irony, You Cruel Mistress
Inky: Layoffs “Unavoidable”
Previously: Radio Killed The Choochy Face Star
October 24th, 2006 at 3:45 pm
I guess I am disappointed that Bunch went from a strong argument (people doing the jobs other people SHOULD be doing, a la Children’s Services and making them accountable) but ending his discussion about “people” losing jobs, like himself. He might be right, but his argument is no different than us losing jobs to foreign countries, and automated machinery, etc. It’s a fact of life.
He mentions disintegrating investigative reporting, yet large media markets like CNN, FoxNews, etc. continue to break stories and complete investigations. We are a society of blood and guts and 2 second attention span. These media machines produce revenue and if the printed page would evolve and create a very strong online business model, they would have no problems. Sh*t, I get news from Fark of all places. Even here.
I can easily point out the guy in my office who is the “newspaper” guy. He reads the paper, at his own pace, doing his own thing. There’s a place for that. But stop bitching about the state of a stone-age medium if you aren’t willing to evolve.
I love the newspaper, I do. I read it on the train, I read it in the can. I read it for reviews on restaurants, I read it for op-ed stuff about music and culture. But for breaking news and investigative reporting, the internet is king.
Bunch, you had something going with your rant on the need for reporters, but you went out with a whimper complaining about your own hide and the state of printed media as a whole. It’s not going to change as long as human beings have access to information any hour of the day, and not on the schedule of the DN or the Ink.