The internet is radically changing old business models and that’s altering how people get their news.
Since the turn of that last century newspapers have been the place where thoughtful, educated people go to get news, opinion and entertainment. Now it appears that newspapers may become obsolete. To be sure, the newspaper industry was in trouble before the internet. Papers have experienced a slow slide in readership that started in the 1950’s.
But in the past five to ten years the decline has accelerated. Advertising, the life’s blood of newspapers, has greatly declined. Papers are cutting back on publication days, some are going to online only and some are closing altogether. It’s not a crisis but a concern. Newspapers (printed on paper) will be with us for quite some time.
Is the decline of newspapers causing an “information gap”, where people are generally less informed? If there is an information gap, does this have an impact on politics the economy or culture? How will people get their news ten years from now? Is it time for a community dialog on the decline of newspapers and how to insure we have a well informed citizenry in the future?