Journalism’s New Ecosystem

They won't charge for news.

I got in trouble with my newspaper-loving friends again today, when I started my morning by re-Tweeting a a video link showing Jeff Jarvis on the CBC last night, talking about The Decline of the Newspaper.

In response to those who still think the old newspaper company model can be saved by charging for online content (if it ever could), I argued that discussions on the future of economically sustainable journalism have been raging for years – from SXSW to blogworldexpo to Twitter to local barcamps (like this one, upcoming soon) and more. But the newspaper deciders haven’t even shown up, as if in total denial while readers shift online.

Meanwhile, I once watched a panel of successful independent bloggers pounding their fists with laughter about how much money the newspaper industry was leaving on the table.

I can’t imagine anybody paying for news again anymore than they will pay for search engines or online classifieds. Instead, we should be looking at how Google, craigslist and others make a fortune without charging us a dime. That’s the future of business, whether we deliver the news in print or online.

Jarvis’s book – What Would Google Do – articulates my argument exactly. Also, I polled my Twitter following a while back, asking “Will you pay to read The New York Times online?” They will not.

I’ll be OK if I’m wrong; I’d honestly love to go back and work in a post-desperate newspaper industry, but I can’t fathom the possibility, at least not before I see the execs embrace some new strategies.