Why is print media dying?

My opinion? Because 'old media' newspapers aren't trustworthy. They don't offer you facts, just opinions. If we didn't know that before we know it now.

The Iraq War has killed not only the hopes of middle east dictators but the credibility of 'old media'.

I started reading blogs the summer before the US election in 2004. I was driven to it by the appallingly written news stories published in the newspapers I loved and read daily. The breaking of my print newspaper habit has been harder than giving up cigarettes. I occasionally break down and get bitten hard for my weakness.

All I can read without trepidition these days is the Wall Street Journal.

There's an article in this week's Advertising Age "LIKE VINYL RECORD PLANTS, NEWSPAPERS FACE BLEAK FUTURE-A Look at How Journalists Must Change in the Digital Age, by Jonah Bloom, read the whole thing here (you may have to register).

"The obvious answer is that most will live on by converting themselves into digital organizations. “Those newspapers that survive will be those that produce truly original content and learn fastest how to translate it into the all-encompassing, all-singing, all-dancing new medium,” said Gowers."

I've subscribed to a few on-line magazines and probably will subscribe to more, when they start demanding it. They'll be able to show print ads and tv commercials and right now we can't fast forward through them.

The advertising world is flexible enough to figure out how to survive in the digital age. Media planning for 'old media' often doesn't include thorough analysis of trustworthy audience data so the lack of really crunchy audience figures for digital won't be a problem.

John Griffiths said "in a blog you have to be honest about who you are". That's the best way of explaining why blogs are a great news source. The best bloggers write honestly. It's up to you to decide whether their opinions are valuable to you.