Vin Crosbie outlines all the stuff newspapers must do to survive in the next 20 years. His contention is that the one-size-fits all model of newspapering is done for, that newspapers must be zoned by interest and specialized to suit the whims of individual readers.
Some of what he says makes sense — heck, I remember talking about zoning by interest rather than geography 15 years ago. Back then it was impossible. The web and emerging technologies like electronic ink and digital presses make the specialization possible; the big question for me is: how do we find out what people want, and how do we give it to them? These are not-small issues left out of Crosbie’s piece. It’s all well and good to be the Professor informing the fellow Castaways that the island is sinking. If he’s got no plans for building the life raft that’ll get ’em back to Hawaii, he’s just shouting the obvious to people who already feel the water pooling around their ankles.
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