Radio Boston on the Future of Newspapers

After listening to Friday’s Radio Boston show on the future of newspapers, I agree with much of what was said. First, in regard to the recent rounds of buyouts that forced the Boston Globe to eliminate its national and foreign correspondents (except for their Washington bureau), I don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing. As Globe editor Marty Baron pointed out on the show, the paper was never marketed as a national paper and is not distributed nationally. Therefore, why shouldn’t they use wire content or stories from their parent company, the New York Times, which has long been regarded as a prominent national and international news media force.

On the broadcast, Globe journalist Stephen Kurkjian was correct when he said the paper is focusing on the beats that are important to Bostonians, namely public safety, health, education, the environment and investigative reporting. Those are the lifeblood of the Globe and what readers want and expect to see when they pick up a newspaper. Therefore, if they start cutting their local staff, then we, as news consumers, and the paper have a problem because there would be no other widely read source with the credibility of the Globe left. Maybe online blogging/news reporting sites like Cape Cod Today can eventually step up to fill that gap, but they are not ready yet.

While on the topic of blogs, Kurkjian raised an interesting, but I think somewhat incorrect, point about the lack of editing with blogs being a determent whereas traditional media has a rigorous prepublication review process. Although there is typically no initial review with blogs, if someone writes something extremely controversial or inaccurate, a reader with the opposing viewpoint/correct information will most likely leave a comment, or e-mail the blogger noting his or her mistake. Of course, the beauty of an online medium is that a mistake can be corrected immediately whereas a newspaper would have to wait for the next edition (yes, they can post a correction on their Web site, but that may not reach everyone who read the initial inaccuracy).

This is where news sites like Cape Cod Today could represent the future of the media, as Dan Kennedy noted on Radio Boston. With its Web site, readers can access news reports that have gone through the traditional reporting and editing practices and the more unregulated blogs through one platform.

Besides Cape Cod Today, a Southern Massachusetts regional paper is expanding their blog presence. In their recent Web site redesign, the Patriot Ledger placed much more emphasis on blogs by linking to off-site content and hosting a few blogs by non-Ledger bloggers and Ledger staff. What we are not seeing from traditional news sites that Cape Cod Today is focusing on, is the community aspect, most notably an extensive business and services directory. Ultimately, I think news organizations will be moving more and more towards this type of medium, which encourages accurate reporting and a free marketplace of ideas – two principals that have long been considered essential to our country and journalism.

Hopefully, newspapers and other media outlets will be able to successfully make this transformation and somehow reap profits from their Web sites. There is still a tremendous desire for journalistic skills and excellence, just in a different form than Americans have traditionally preferred.