The Death of Newspapers? (I'm gonna need a job!)

Papers

The last few months have been a whirlwind of activity at work. We are downsizing, no secret; and at the same time, we are attempting to meld the newspaper with the web in what could be pessimistically viewed as transferring as many of the able-bodied to lifeboats as fast as possible.

I have been a part of that effort in both covert and overt ways, but something has been nagging me from the back of my brain this whole time.

Last week, I committed a minor 'internet transgression' at work. Something done in a harmless fashion and with the best intent, but nevertheless something bad in the view of my employer. During the 10 minute or so conversation that it took to correct the situation (i.e. remove the video from YouTube), a light bulb went on and I knew what had been bothering me.

Most newspapers won't survive the transition to a web-based information structure because they are, first and foremost, corporate. Journalism is what they do, corporate is who they are.

Corporate believes in competition over cooperation. Corporate believes in control over freedom. Corporate believe in profit. Corporate believes in secrets.

All of these values run in the opposite direction from what web journalism is and what it is becoming. At its essence, the web is about freedom and choice and cooperation, and the blossoming citizen journalism flow is one of those results. In the 10-plus years of the web's existence, why have no major web enhancements come from traditional news organizations, even though many of them were among the first to set up shop online?

Innovation and survival on the web require sharing and cooperation. They also require an openness and free flow of information that corporate journalism refuses to provide. Controlling the information flow is what corporate journalism is about; web journalism is about getting around that. As the web develops its own mechanisms for journalism, many many people will follow.

The speed of change is ever increasing; unless corporate journalism can become much less corporate, it will be left behind.  Heck, Yahoo News is the already the biggest news site on the web. A strategy of control is not a strategy for survival. Embracing the freedom of the web is the only way to become part of the flow; fighting it will leave many journalists and their organizations washed up on the shore.