Real News on the Internet

Quote of the day:
“By concentrating on what is good in people, by appealing to their idealism and their sense of justice, and by asking them to put their faith in the future, socialists put themselves at a severe disadvantage.”
--Ian McEwan

Statistic of the day:
51 percent.
--the amount more stale popcorn participants ate when it was served in a large bucket rather than a medium one. The participants had just had lunch. From a study by Dr. Brian Wansink of Cornell’s Food and Brand Lab

Our local newspaper, “The San Diego Union-Tribune,” has been irritating various readers recently by cutting some features. Gone are things like tables of stock market statistics and a detailed chart of results in many less-popular local sports.

The routine of reading a newspaper is considered sacred ground by many readers. It is thus quite an affront when anything is summarily changed or, worse, discontinued.

The ongoing business reality of newspapers is pretty clear. The number of people who say they read a daily paper continues to decline, and is at its lowest level ever.

As a result, circulation is down and advertising revenue is down. Budgets must therefore be cut, and that involves shrinking the newspaper. Newspapers are thinner and smaller than ever.

Online, the story is different. Many newspapers are finding success on the internet, though the business model is quite different from the printed paper.

Three observations about online newspapers, in no particular order:

First, newspaper sites have become much, much more user-friendly and attractive over the last several years.

Second, the online news business is extremely competitive, and it is very difficult to make the kind of revenue that newspapers have come to expect.

Third, newspaper sites are the most reliable and trustworthy news sources on the internet.

This reliability and trustworthiness is a godsend in the online world. The number of pseudo-news sources on the internet is huge and grows hourly.

At the same time, our need and desire for substantial, authoritative, exhaustively-reported and well-written content also grows.

This is good news for the best newspapers, and for those of us who depend on them.