Print is Over (If You Want It)

The New York Times had an article Saturday about how industries survive change - but specifically looking at how newspapers could overcome the current trend toward becoming obsolete. The article cites the example of bicycles and radios - both of which have reinvented themselves over the years to remain something people desire, despite new technologies (cars, TV...) Still, the article doesn't really answer HOW newspapers will remarket themselves successfully. I think this is the problem: no one knows exactly what changes will help and what will harm print media.

Although much of the article was a downer (um, incidentally most articles about the current state of journalism are), the last graf left me with some hope:

"... Perhaps the destruction will lead to more creativity. Perhaps the people we now know as journalists — or, for that matter, autoworkers — will find ways to innovate elsewhere, just as, over a century ago, gun makers laid down their weapons and broke out the needle and thread. That is, after all, the American creative legacy: making innovation seem as easy as, well, riding a bike."

The answer is not going to be cutting everything and eliminating creativity, it's going to be up to editors and journalists to create a product that people want and are interested in.