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Why people read newspapers
Quote from a 1959 movie. An editor tells a reporter about newspapers: You know what people use these for? They roll them up and swat their puppies for wetting on the rug. They spread them on the floor when they’re painting the walls. They wrap fish in them. Shred them up and pack their two-bit…
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Online audience growth: not a solution to newspapers’ problems?
There’s an interesting look at the problems of newspapers online by Robert Ivan at Seeking Alpha, focusing on the New York Times. I don’t know about the assumptions – I’ve seen the cost of the NYT’s newsgathering put at $200m – and I’ve simplified it a little, but here it is: Despite the highest readership…
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More thoughts on journalism and democracy
More food for thought on journalism and democracy. Should people be made to watch the news? Have a look at the conclusion to this article, Free Falls, High Dives, and the Future of Democratic Accountability [pdf] by Scott Althaus.
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The Business Model for Poetry
Amid all the talk of business models for journalism, I thought you might be interested in an example from history – the collapse of the business model for poetry. At the turn of the nineteenth century, rhymesters were rolling in it. In 1811, Sir Walter Scott‘s advance for Rokeby enabled him to buy Abbotsford.