Sunday, January 3, 2010

Life Without Print Newspapers?

I spent the holidays on the West Coast with my family. As I've written in the past, I enjoy debating my father -- an avid newspaper reader -- over the delivery of news. When I'm visiting family, I will pick up the newspaper, because it's there.

So I read this post from the Comms Corner blog with interest. The deal is that blogger Adam Vincenzini is swearing off reading a print newspaper for the next year. He notes the importance of doing this, since he's a PR professional that needs to feed his news habit. Under this experiment, he will:
  • rely even more heavily on digital channels.
  • spend more time on the websites of the papers I'd normally read.
  • experiment with more apps, gadgets and widgets to deliver content from those outlets to me.
  • My Factiva alerts and the like take on greater significance.
  • probably read e-editions where possible (like the version of The Metro delivered to my inbox each day at 6am).
I stopped my delivery of the Baltimore Sun more than a year ago, so I have been there, done that as far as Vincenzini's experiment is concerned. The news, for me, now comes via NPR and the News Feed Elite app on my iPod Touch. For a mere $1.99, I have access to almost 200 media publications and blogs, including the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today and my Sun.

It will be interesting to follow Vicenzeni this year, and it will be even more interesting to see if he goes back to reading print publications in 2011. Watch this space!
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2 comments:

  1. Mike GreenJanuary 6, 2010 at 10:10 PM

    I like the concept. After 14 years as a journalist, I quit my last award-winning position as a Web Editor and started my own company. I stopped receiving the local paper because the cost outweighed the value. Interesting thing happened. My wife buys the paper form time to time off the rack. I don't even read it when it's sitting here in the living room. One exception. I read the Sunday Dilbert in the comics section. Other than that, I've had no contact and don't miss it. I get all I need, and more, online.

    The idea that it might be a stretch to live without the print newspaper isn't really a stretch except to those of us who love news and information. Circulation and sales rates, even in the best of times, reflect a society that is less informed, less curious, less knowledgeable ... and OK with that condition. The public schools have helped usher in generations of consumers who have less and less desire to be informed ... thus devalueing the newspaper in the eyes of millions who would much rather read about the latest celebrity gossip, fashion trends and strange wacky happenings in society than anything of substance. Thus "news" in print form, was losing its luster long before it got run over by the train of technology.

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  2. UnknownJanuary 16, 2010 at 3:51 PM

    Hi there...I'm at day 16 and struggling...as this video shows...

    http://thecommscorner.blogspot.com/2010/01/mission-impossible-avoiding-newspapers.html

    Adam

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