TIME.com: Do Newspapers Have a Future? — Oct. 2, 2006 — Page 2
But there is room between the New York Times and myleftarmpit.com for new forms that liberate journalism from its encrusted conceits while preserving its standards, like accuracy.
I was just about ready to remove Time magazine from my Google homepage because they were disappointing me with thin articles, but this one is a little better. It whines a little about the blogosphere and how the bad bloggers are getting treated like journalists without having to pay their dues as whatever journalists are before they get a job with a big paper. But then it goes on to talk about the need for old school media to find the spot between bloggers and where they are now where people want to read them, and they still make money.
I do have to take issue with this quote:
The Brits have never bought into the American separation of reporting and opinion. They assume that an intelligent person, paid to learn about some subject, will naturally develop views about it. And they consider it more truthful to express those views than to suppress them in the name of objectivity.
American papers objective? I don’t know what American paper he’s reading, but if it’s really objective, I’d love a subscription. I have yet to find a news source in between “OMG Bush is a jerk” and “Fight terrorism at all costs!”.
I’d like to see old media compete. I think that established newspapers have a place alongside blogs, and it’s an important place. They just need to figure out what that place is, and how to monetize it.