Now Reading
Would you pay for a “blog newspaper”?

Would you pay for a “blog newspaper”?

I fully understand the appeal of reading blogs on the morning commute: it often beats what’s printed in newspapers. What I can’t quite get my head around is The Printed Blog recently started by Joshua Karp.

In a world of iPhones, BlackBerrys, Kindles and 3G-enabled notebook PCs, why would I want to pick up and pay to read only moderately recent blog entries over which I have no control and no immediate way of communicating back with them or seeing the ongoing conversation?

“I thought maybe this would translate into a new, venture-funded model for newspapers, but no one believes print news will survive. If I had a penny left, I would bet newspapers will survive in printed form,” Karp said.

I don’t think the newspaper apocalypse is coming soon, if at all, even though print publishers need to change and adapt to the online landscape. However, I really don’t think there’s the market for creating a daily paper for something that lives online, particularly as blogging now relies more than ever on social media and social networks and that, by nature, can only be handled on the web.

Even if the model were to work for a couple of years, the notion that advertisers pay more for print than online is also fading fast.

See Also
Font Vulnerability

In his favor, Karp kept things local. Maybe there’s a place for this, even if it’s an additional section in an existing local paper? I’m still skeptical, though.

Via

View Comments (3)
  • I wouldn’t even pay for a “newspaper newspaper.” The internet is a much more efficient way to consume and publish news, and the content doesn’t cost a dime. (And any content that does generally doesn’t sell too well…)

  • skeptical? I can’t believe for one second that it will work. The idea misses the whole point of a blog; that it’s quick, easily accessible, up to date and free. You’ve only got to look at the recent news stories that have broken such as the Michael Jackson death to realise print media just can’t keep up with the speed of news online.

  • What a bizarre idea – a printed blog. I won’t be recommending that to any of my clients anytime soon. The newspapers have to adapt and catch up with their use of social media heading in the opposite direction just seems ridiculous.

Scroll To Top