Comments on: Wikis to (re)build the news

By: Bryan Saxton

Bryan Saxton — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:39:08 +0000

The Internet has certainly changed the way we access media, but one of the things I’ve discovered is that there are a ton of people who still get their news from print. Focusing solely on online content at this stage in the game will alienate a significant portion of the population (we’re talking 60%-70% of readers). But, given the state of print media and the economy, there may be no alternative to focusing on online content.

One other problem is that an online paper is going to make much less money than print media used to. As a result (and as much as I hate to say it), we’re probably going to see a reduction in the quality of news reporting, at least in the short term.

Anyway, I’m sure the newspaper industry will survive in some form or another. They survived other crisis in the past (the introduction of radio and television), and I’ll be interested to see how it manifests itself in the near future.

By: John Lowe

John Lowe — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 03:21:08 +0000

Your post makes clear there as many open, untapped areas for newspaper Internet revenue and expansion as there were open and untapped areas in the western U.S. when the Chronicle’s city was just getting started. That word synthesize really resonates because of Halberstam’s definition of the great reporter’s gifts: “A fine mind, limitless energy, total recall and an ability to synthesize material.”

By: Alexis Madrigal

Alexis Madrigal — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:32:10 +0000

I know the idea about the iPhone *sounds* like me, but I just want to give credit for that idea to Robin Sloan, Current’s social media strategist. At least, I think he was the one who floated that idea.

Great points about the need for pull journalism. Perhaps the PostChron could partner with one of my favorite apps, GoodGuide.