I couldn’t have run into a more perfect article to write about for our first blog. In class, we talked about dwindling newspaper audiences and what that meant for the future of print media. In this article published in the New York Times, a Chicago start-up company called The Printed Blog plans to reprint blog posts on regular paper, surrounded by local ads, and distribute the publications free in big cities. Joshua Karp, the founder and publisher, said in an article publised on WIRED blog network that he believes print media is far from dying, yet it is definitely struggling to stay afloat and any experimentation with new business models is better than doing nothing.
The Printed Blog will publish blog posts alongside other Web like content, like user-submitted photographs and readers’ comments. The paper will be printed on three or four 11-by-17-inch sheets of white paper and laid out like a blog instead of in columns. While other large newspapers are beginning to file for bankruptcy and running out of funds, The Printed Blog plans on cutting costs by avoiding the circulation costs of papers with large, central printing presses. Advertisers will eventually be able to buy ads on the Web site, so The Printed Blog will not need to employ many sales people. Also, by publishing articles written by bloggers who are already covering specific topics from politics to fashion, Karp can cut the cost of paying reporters. According to the article, 300 bloggers have already given The Printed Blog permission to publish their work for a share of the ad revenue, including small-audience bloggers in Chicago and nationally known blogs like Daily Kos.
Just as we discussed in class, there’s a huge readership that wants the local news, and being able to filter the national news down to a local level is extremely important. In this situation, local bloggers will be able to share their expertise on specific issues that people want to read about. I believe that The Printed Blog definitely meets all of the ‘news judgment’ strategies Parks talked about in class. This paper definitely shows community stewardship and seems like it will make a real connection with its audience. The Printed Blog seems like a great way to give people something to talk about.
Also, in our country’s economic crisis, The Printed Blog is helping out local businesses by increasing their advertising and capturing people’s attention. The article states that unlike struggling car companies and department stores, which are mainstay advertisers of metropolitan dailies, small businesses have increased their ad spending during the recession.
Overall, there are many pros and cons to this new idea. Luckily, if this web-to-print process becomes successful, editors will still be needed to decide which posts make the paper; but not so lucky for reporters who will have nothing to do with this type of new media since all of the written content will be coming from bloggers. I think The Printed Blog is a creative and good new idea but mainly for small businesses and blogs who will be getting a lot of new exposure and therefore making a profit. But in the grand scheme of things, I don’t think The Printed Blog will aid in the inevitable death of newspapers.
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Very good find Tina. I'm scared to death of what this poses for the future of journalism. Admittedly, I'm a fan of certain blogs. But with my educational training and professional experience in journalism, I recognize that there are no checks and balances with blogs. It's one person's opinion, and that person doesn't necessarily have to follow the rules and ethics of journalism.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I think a lot of people struggle to recognize the difference between fact and opinion on the Internet. Every week I get a forwarded e-mail from my mother about something ridiculous (i.e. Obama is a Muslim terrorist, Congress is proposing an e-mail tax, etc.). I try to tell her it's fake, but she keeps falling for it because these articles are written well and in journalistic style.
If The Printed Blog is the future, I dread to think what that means for the industry.