Newspaper Industry
UCD study has positive outlook for newspapers
Monday, 31, May,2010
The nation's struggling newspaper industry has a future, but it will require a commitment to sweeping change that could include a public-private ownership model and help from organized labor, according to a new UC Davis, study."People think of newspapers as a rapidly changing, technologically driven, flexible industry," said Chris Benner, associate professor of community and regional development and the lead author of the study."But what we found is that newspapers all too often have more in common with a factory assembly line.
When you're trying to get a newspaper out, there's intense pressure to meet deadlines every day. That makes it very hard for newspapers to innovate."To survive, newspapers must evolve into "the networked information provider of the future -- the networked, entrepreneurial local information hub," Benner said. That will allow them to expand their audiences and revenue sources."I think the jury is out on which newspapers will get there," Benner added. "Some definitely will."