The subtext for a lot of journalism talk, especially on Romenesko, is the fear that newspapers will be killed off by new media. Last summer, American Journalism Review bluntly told its newspaper readers, “Adapt or die.”
That’s overblown. Newspapers are not going to die. Just as radio survived after television, print will survive the Web. It’s just going to deal with the fact that people only read it when they don’t have anything else.
Even around campus, where do you see people read newspapers? Where they need a distraction and don’t have a computer: class, the dining hall, and the “L.” The number of newspapers that litter Allison or Sargent after lunch is unbelievable some days, just as the RedEye litters the cars on the “L.”
More than notions of readership and audience, I think that’s why the RedEye works so well: It’s the perfect thing to grab for the “L.” Papers like the RedEye probably wouldn’t work in cities without an extended subway system; there wouldn’t be many places to read it. The same is true of radio. As much as I love some shows, I only listen to it in the car. So these days, that’s what radio’s made for, with weather and traffic and soundbites, so you can easily listen while you drive.
The future of the newspaper, then, is figuring out where people want to spend time with ink and paper. Maybe it’ll be redesigned to work especially well on your breakfast table; or maybe something you can curl up with on the couch; or maybe coffee shops and offices. Newspapers aren’t going anywhere — but they’re going to have to go somewhere in particular.