A fascinating column in today's LAT on the future of newspapers. It's the first time in a decade that I've been on the outside of this industry, and it's somewhat heartening to see a report like this actually appear in a newspaper.
In his "Regarding Media" column, Tim Rutten speaks of the enormous change necessary for newspapers in this country to thrive like the newspapers in the United Kingdom.
Among the more interesting points:
- (T)he media research firm Nielsen/NetRatings reports that the online editions of Britain's two largest "quality" newspapers -- the Guardian and the Times of London -- now have more American than British readers. The Independent, a smaller serious daily, already has twice as many readers in the U.S. as it does in Britain. ... The quality British papers, particularly in their online editions, are much farther down the road toward what looks like the future of newspaper journalism, one that places a much higher premium on analysis and opinion than do serious American newspapers.
Indeed, one of the many things that brings me great joy reading the Guardian online (and considerably more joy reading the print edition on visits to London) is the personality and opinion that is consistently spread throughout the paper. Viewpoints that might be considered "biased" stateside aren't relegated to a page or two of editorials inside a section; they're jumping off nearly every page. It's almost as if choosing a newspaper there is proclaiming your political viewpoints. Or at least your leaning.
- Sooner rather than later, the newspaper you're holding in your hands will be very different from what it is today. Different in what way is the fair and obvious question. The honest answer is that nobody knows for certain, but the odds are it will be a hybrid publication in which an online edition that's focused mainly on breaking news and service works in tandem with a print edition whose staples are analysis, context and opinion. ... the latter will have to be much more thoughtful and far more intensely and carefully edited.
Which is certainly true; and which is the direction many American newspapers are moving. But mostly at a snail's pace; and with the slow movement come staff reductions, which prevent, for the most part, "intense and careful editing." Sort of a catch-22.
Anyway, it'll be interesting to watch this sea change as an outsider. And I can only hope that American newspapers, particularly the one I have quite an affinity for, can catch up in time. For now, though, I'll keep reading here.
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