I think most folks who follow the news are aware that newspapers are in trouble, as stories multiply about the financial problems at papers like the Chicago Tribune, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and of course the Grey Lady, the New York Times. Yesterday, Geoff Baker, who covers the Seattle Mariners as the beat writer for the Seattle Times, reflected on this situation on his blog. I think he has some worthwhile things to say; I believe he’s right that online content offers newspapers the opportunity to do far more than they can with their print editions. I particularly appreciate (and agree with) his comment that “the first step is for all reporters who still have jobs to start practising journalism to a far greater degree than they do.” He’s more optimistic than I am about finding a financial model that will work to keep our newspapers afloat, but in the end, I think he’s right that “this Darwinian exercise” will lead not to the extinction of newspapers but to their reinvigoration; we rely too much on the work they do for them to disappear.
