Outrageous Malfunction

Jerry Large is confused about the role of newspapers in society, and it shows. In his latest editorial, “Our layoffs are your loss too“, Jerry writes:

Newspapers provide an essential public service.

If the public thought this was true, the public would be paying for newspapers. The market dictates the desire for different news delivery vectors; that newspapers are serving a declining role in the market while overall media consumption increases shows that newspapers aren’t delivering on a value proposition the public wants a part of.

Good journalism costs money, and technological change has played havoc with our primary source of cash, advertising.

I agree that good journalism costs money; I also agree that technology has changed the way media is monetized. However, there are counter-examples of good journalism requiring advertising for primary funding. While both Michael Yon and Michael Totten both have advertising, they also have large paypal buttons which provide funding to support the missions they undertake.

Newspapers are a rare balancing act between public service and business pressures. No one has figured out how to fund journalism in this new environment.

Again, I’ll point out the falsehood that “no one” has figured this out. Someone has, just not in the monolithic construct of a newspaper. Yelp takes the place of restaurant reviews; Craigslist takes the place of the classified ads; and so on.

The Internet is sometimes seen as an eruption of new voices and new information sources, but an amazing amount of what it offers is based on the legwork of newspaper reporters.

Maybe it’s not amazing. Web producers want material they can trust, so where else are they going to get it?

Not from journalists, for the most part.

Journalists aren’t perfect, but most work hard to get things right.

If this were true, why is trust in journalists so low?

We believe we play crucial roles in a community’s conversations.

I believe in a lot of things that aren’t true, as well.