It’s hardly news that traditional media is on the way out. Media observers have been predicting the eventual demise of tangible media for years, with newspapers being the first to go. Technology evangelists have taken to tracking the “downfall” of traditional media as a hobby – one can find numerous blog posts each week documenting new signs of the “mainstream media’s” irrelevance; there is even a Twitter feed (@themediaisdying) that tracks nothing but media layoffs and outlet closures.
What is news though, are the recent signs that those in the industry have finally come to terms with reality and now understand that the age of mass-printed dailies is coming to an end. There have been several developments in the past week – some big, some small – that have convinced me that many inside the newspaper media have finally accepted the inevitable:
- Online news outlets are now eligible to win Pulitzer Prizes: While, as Seth Godin points out, you or I certainly aren’t going to win one anytime soon for our personal blog posts, professional online outlets now can.
- The LA Times consolidates its local blogs: Last week, the LA Times decided to consolidate its multiple blogs about LA into its “LA Now” blog and dramatically increase the posting frequency: While not a story of major significance to most people, this is likely a direct response to the LA Times realizing the popularity of local LA blogs like LAist and trying to stay competitive. The LA Times is being forced to change their strategy and approach because of these new media outlets (as my colleague Andrea Nowack wrote about yesterday).
- The Tribune Company filing for bankruptcy: This is the one story of the three that has some major direct consequence, but the symbolism is also dramatic: one of the largest media operations, which owns two of the nation’s most popular newspapers (The LA Times and Chicago Tribune), is no longer economically feasible and is filing for bankruptcy.
As I said above, the importance of these stories lies not in their direct consequences (most of the outlets that win Pulitzer Prizes will still have offline operations, the local blog scene in LA will not be revolutionized by the LA Times switch, and the Chicago Tribune will continue to be published), but rather what they represent: that members of the traditional media are finally accepting, en masse, that the age of influence for newspapers is coming to an end. This is not to say that all newspapers will simply disappear in the next year. Some papers, especially those targeted towards niche markets (such as the Wall Street Journal) will continue their publication much longer; however, ultimately, these recent developments are recognition that newspapers are on their way out. I predict that over the next few years we will see a sharp increase in the number of small and midsize papers (and some major ones) that move their operations solely online as the print industry finally adapts to the changing world.
