President Obama has flagged his concerns about the direction of news and has dropped a big hint that the US Government could help prop up the declining newspaper industry. But will it do any good?
In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Blade, Obama said fact based reporting and double checking information was now at risk. He says it's becoming "all blogosphere, all opinions, with no serious fact-checking, no serious attempts to put stories in context".
Obama said he would be happy to look at a Senate measure that would allow newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks.
But then, would that help? The New York Times reports that the newspaper industry hasn't even bottomed out with revenues falling 28.3% in the first quarter this year and 29% in the second. While the drop in revenue is expected to slow down, commentators say there is still some way to go because the newspaper industry has not yet hit bottom.
Only part of this is related to the recession. The rest of it is structural. Changing lifestyle patterns and demographics mean that fewer people are reading newspapers. As I warned in a blog entry earlier this month, US newspapers might have about six years left. After that, people will be reading at their computers, on their phones or from special digital readers. But that will mean fewer readers.
no comment untill now