The threat of possible closure of the Boston Globe has been all over the news. As an avid daily reader as well as a freelancer who has written for the Globe, this news is deeply troubling. I first read on Running a Hospital how a number of Boston-based bloggers who care about the continued existence of the Globe have banded together in conducting a blog rally. We are simultaneously posting this paragraph to solicit your ideas of steps the Globe could take to improve its financial picture:
We view the Globe as an important community resource, and we think that lots of people in the region agree and might have creative ideas that might help in this situation. So, here’s your chance. Please don’t write with nasty comments and sarcasm: Use this forum for thoughtful and interesting steps you would recommend to the management that would improve readership, enhance the Globe’s community presence, and make money. Who knows, someone here might come up with an idea that will work, or at least help. Thank you.
Please participate and spread the word!
Like many others, I find myself getting a large percentage of my news online. However, internet-based news doesn’t provide the same variety of reading nor the same depth of information as printed news. And I think the physical nature of actually holding what you read adds something to the experience.
Unfortunately, a medium only works if it can find the dollars needed to support it. And the current revenue generation model of print is failing. Newspapers and magazines were in decline before the www, but the alternatives provided by the web, largely a matter of convenience, and a reflection of our general inability to focus very long on a single topic, are accelerating it.
However, it all comes down to revenue model. I think Eric Schmidt of Google recently said as much. If they can find something that works better…well, who knows. I’m not sure if the AP’s recent decision to try to evolve copyright law is the right way to go about things, though. Sort of like the horse-and-buggy trying to fend off the car via legislation.