OSNews: http://www.osnews.com/story/20801/In_Praise_of_the_Print_Media Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2013, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Sat, 18 May 2013 09:01:47 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif OSNews.com http://www.osnews.com A big reason is http://www.osnews.com/thread?344403 http://www.osnews.com/thread?344403 Most papers are now owned by a handful of people/companies and they all have about the same political slant. Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:18:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Vinegar Joe) Comments RE: A big reason is http://www.osnews.com/thread?344404 http://www.osnews.com/thread?344404 Something similar happened in the tech media. It didn't have anything to do with political slant, but during the eighties and nineties, there was a lot of consolidation of tech magazines into a few big media conglomerates. I think it's possible that this consolidation made the various tech magazines too-similar and also hindered them in being able to change quickly enough to stay relevant. Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (David) Comments I suppose magazines are still useful ... http://www.osnews.com/thread?344405 http://www.osnews.com/thread?344405 Afterall, people still need something to read while on the crapper ;) Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (WorknMan) Comments Comment by moleskine http://www.osnews.com/thread?344411 http://www.osnews.com/thread?344411 Anything ephemeral or non-essential is at risk in times like these because it is the easiest to cut back on. Imho, traditional newspapers and tech publications will eventually have to go far, far upmarket to survive. The net does basic news, reviews and instant opinionating (blogs, e.g.) far better than print, so in order to get anyone to actually buy your printed publication you are going to have to offer sophisticated, thoughtful opinions by seriously well qualified people and essays so detailed they could almost be papers.

Everything else - the moron stuff involving paparazzi, cheapo sports reporting and showbiz - will morph into freesheets and crappy websites. Since those upmarket publications will have relatively small markets, the whole traditional print/news industry will vanish too, I suppose.

I don't see books going West, though. I think people have a hunger for story-telling and connectedness that is almost a primal instinct, and so essential. No one has yet invented anything that does it better, though the medium may well change in the next couple of decades with much better (and affordable) electronic books and print-on-demand for those who still want paper. Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:45:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (moleskine) Comments RE: I suppose magazines are still useful ... http://www.osnews.com/thread?344416 http://www.osnews.com/thread?344416 "Afterall, people still need something to read while on the crapper ;) "
Why do You think, netbooks are so damned popular? ;) Edited 2009-01-19 23:05 UTC Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:04:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (madgabz) Comments RE[2]: I suppose magazines are still useful ... http://www.osnews.com/thread?344417 http://www.osnews.com/thread?344417
Why do You think, netbooks are so damned popular? ;)


Just remind me never to borrow your netbook, ok ? ;) Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:14:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (WorknMan) Comments For Your Consideration http://www.osnews.com/thread?344426 http://www.osnews.com/thread?344426 What I'll miss about the old publications is their isolation. A single journalist would write a long article on his own and it would be published in solitary glory. The thinking of one man presented for your consideration. Maybe in a month, there'll be one or two letters on the subject of sufficient quality to print. Or maybe not.

These days every article is linked to half a dozen other articles about the same thing. And at the end you get endless, witless comments from dumb bastards like me, who pick the article apart or just shout their own tangential passions.

And then there's advertising. At least with magazines, adverts don't appear magically from the very words of the article. At least they weren't animated.

Navigation of a magazine was good too. You didn't need to surround every article with information about what else the magazine had to offer, because the reader had the very pages in his hands. You knew there was other stuff in there and you knew how to find it.

Oh, and magazines had better graphics.

Yes, there's a lot to be said for the old media when you think about it. Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:43:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Michael) Comments WM http://www.osnews.com/thread?344430 http://www.osnews.com/thread?344430 I was so sad when Windows Magazine stopped publishing, they don't even have Internet archives :-(

I don't want print media to die, they have high standards of writing, mostly, better than any regular blogger. Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Angel Blue01) Comments RE: Comment by moleskine http://www.osnews.com/thread?344453 http://www.osnews.com/thread?344453 In my case, I still prefer trade paper backs over e-books. Even comics, I prefer flipping thru pages. Nothing beats a Sunday morning on the porch with a book, coffee and cigars, he he he. Tue, 20 Jan 2009 02:45:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (qroon) Comments RE[3]: I suppose magazines are still useful ... http://www.osnews.com/thread?344471 http://www.osnews.com/thread?344471 ... Or to borrow you mine ;) Tue, 20 Jan 2009 05:02:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (capricorn_tm) Comments Quality is always worth paying for http://www.osnews.com/thread?344589 http://www.osnews.com/thread?344589 Magazines and newspapers is still where the quality is. I read a fair number of blogs and other online news sources and I've yet to see anything which comes even close to matching the quality of the better articles in for example the Economist or the Financial Times. The quality of the writing and the level of journalism is atrocious on far too many blogs.

That is not to say all print is better than all online sources, far from it. There are far too many magazines and newspapers out there that are shit. They will and should go bankrupt. I hope there is a special place in hell for people who publish magazines who's articles consist of little more then press releases and advertising copy from their advertisers.

Still I actually find myself buying and reading more magazines and newspapers today than I did 3-4 years ago. The meteoric rise of blogs and similar sites has demonstrated very clearly how hard truly great journalistic writing is and how few are really good at it. I for one am more than happy to pay the few people who still know how to write really well. Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:50:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (dagw) Comments Newspapers http://www.osnews.com/thread?344599 http://www.osnews.com/thread?344599 I say good riddance. Modern print media isn't succeeding precisely because it isn't providing what people want. Let it die a natural death and let something else fill the void, that's how society evolves.

Pretty much all print media projects a liberal point of view anyhow. People can't relate, therefore they don't buy. Provide something fresh and more ideologically balanced and you might have a chance. Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:05:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Novan_Leon) Comments Being an independant publication pays http://www.osnews.com/thread?345051 http://www.osnews.com/thread?345051 Hmmm, thats odd. I work as a desktop publisher for a local newspaper in west michigan and we've seen a steady increase in sales and circulation in the last 11 months. How strange.
Must have something to do with having competent writers and editors who actually make the local community's input a priority in the publication. That and not being owned by a larger company that just wants to slap AP drivel on a page and call it news. Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:05:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (factotum218) Comments RE: Newspapers http://www.osnews.com/thread?345141 http://www.osnews.com/thread?345141 "Liberal media", right. Because there aren't loads of business-oriented publications. Fri, 23 Jan 2009 09:55:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Johann Chua) Comments RE: For Your Consideration http://www.osnews.com/thread?345209 http://www.osnews.com/thread?345209 I completely agree with you.
Paper magazines are more comfortable to read and have better layout.
Maybe a paid subscription on some websites would resolve the problem of the crowded advertising. Fri, 23 Jan 2009 20:39:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ZBrando) Comments RE[2]: Newspapers http://www.osnews.com/thread?345228 http://www.osnews.com/thread?345228 And, as it happens, almost all the newspapers and TV networks in the US are owned by convervative companies. Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:19:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Angel Blue01) Comments