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Out of Print: Newspapers, Journalism and the Business of News in the Digital Age by George Brock (view source)
Revision as of 10:42, 10 April 2018
, 10:42, 10 April 2018no edit summary
{{infoboxinfobox1
|title=Out of Print: Newspapers, Journalism and the Business of News in the Digital Age
|author=George Brock
|isbn=978-0749466510
|website=http@//www.georgebrock.net
|videocover=0749466510|amazonukaznuk=<amazonuk>0749466510</amazonuk>|amazonusaznus=<amazonus>0749466510</amazonus>
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I found the historical chapters a little excessive - I'd happily have done without the first two chapters and settled for bringing me up to date from about the nineteen sixties. Brock calls the second half of the twentieth century ''The Gilded Age'' but qualifies this by adding that it's ironic. This might have looked like a period of influence and achievement but the reality was that the signs of decline were evident long before the internet was even a dream.
The book comes into its own with the chapter ''The Business Model Crumbles''. Historically , print papers have been cross-subsidised, usually by advertising and we're now in the unusual situation whereby some newspapers find that it's more profitable to give the physical paper away than to charge for it - with the paper's real asset being the right to distribute in certain locations. So far as online news media is concerned the effect of paywalls (or meters) is informative. A paywall is really only going to work when the information (or something very similar) can't be had for free. Loyalty doesn't come into play when wallets have to be opened.
It's not just the business models which have crumbled either - credibility has drained away, even from institutions such as the BBC. Brock wisely avoids getting too deeply into the mire of Savile and phone hacking and gives a brisk summary of the situation and how it has affected the industry. He approaches the Leveson Inquiry in a similar manner but does seem to feel that it was a missed opportunity in that he should have considered a 'law first' approach rather than dashing to the idea of regulation. I'd have welcomed a lot more discussion on this point, but that could well be because it agrees with my own view.
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[[Category:Business and Finance]]