Fwd: The Last Media Tycoon

As a newspaper and magazine junkie, I thought that this was pretty interesting. Thanks Keith! _______________________________________________________________________________________
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Keith Dinsmore

Date: Thu, Jul 17, 2008 at 11:06 AM
Subject: The Last Media Tycoon

In the mornings, I don't consider the day to have really begun until I'm on at least my second cup of coffee and have accumulated a little newspaper ink on my fingertips. So it was more than a little disturbing to my psyche last night when I read this very good article on Portfolio.com about the new publisher of the Washington Post and her challenge of saving one of the great newspapers of the world. http://www.portfolio.com/executives/features/2008/07/15/Washington-Post-Publisher-Weymouth The part that bothered me most was the confident prediction by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer that, in 10 years, "there will be no newspapers, no magazines that are delivered in paper form." Holy Gutenberg! The Apocolypse is upon us! I remember going to state and national newspaper meetings in the late 70's -- 30 years ago -- when most of the big-city publishers seemed obsessed with talk about some ill-defined "information super highway" that was on the horizon. I recall lots of hand wringing about how were they going to prepare for the forthcoming revolution. Their nightmarish scenario involved people sitting in front of their computers reading the news of the day .... for FREE!! This vision of doom caused most of them to break into a cold sweat -- or go to the bar for a couple of stiff drinks. As a struggling country publisher from Iowa in his 30's, I went to these meetings in Des Moines, Kansas City or Washington to pick up a few ideas on how to put out a better news product that people would want to read every week. Secondarily, I hoped to pick up some tips on how to sell enough advertising to keep the printing presses running and the damned papers afloat financially. I didn't give a good rip about running a local access cable TV franchise or spend any time worrying about who was going to own the cord going into everyone's homes connected to some box that let them order movies or a pizza from their TV screen. I just wanted more "pork months" and "national agriculture weeks" and graduation issues that would let me hustle a few more ads to pay the bills. As a news junkie, I absolutely love the internet (thank you, Al Gore). To have access to the news of the world in just a few clicks of the mouse is a wonderful thing. But I just gotta ask: Who the hell wants to live in a world with no newspapers or magazines?? Anyway, I hope you enjoy this insightful article about the Washington Post Co. and the brave new world we live in. But there's still something about the aroma of newsprint .... Keith