Slashdot, one of my favorite websites, has a rare editorial today, “A Recipe for Newspaper Survival in the Internet Age.” The author, Robin Miller, is one of the early contributors to Slashdot, the website that both helped to invent and popularized the collaborative, forum-based blog. Miller lays out a series of recommendations for how local newspapers can capitalize on the internet, using it as a tool for success, rather than allow themselves to be defeated by it.
I’ve never bought into this internet vs. the media thing, but it is a fact that newspaper circulation is declining while news-gathering on-line is increasing — I haven’t been shy about recommending that local press adopt new technologies. I don’t know jack about the newspaper business, but I know the internet business, and much of Miller’s advice should be heeded by local media outlets, print and otherwise.
Excellent article, thank you for the link. I was especially interested in the economic interest that print media have in increased transit ridership. As a sometime transit rider, I certainly agree that a paper makes the ride better. So how do local print media take advantage of the transit market? C-ville-sponsored bus shelters? The Daily Progress streetcar?