Quote of the Day – Newspaper Edition

“If you had told one of the great newspaper moguls of the past that someday it would be possible to publish a newspaper without paying anything for paper, printing and delivery, he would not have predicted that this would mean catastrophe for the industry. But that is what it has been.” – Michael Kinsley

What the moguls may have overlooked is that these developments would radically lower — indeed, essentially eliminate — barriers to entry and therefore provide a fantastic amount of competition.

Photo by Flickr user mfophoto, used under Creative Commons license.

FILED UNDER: Economics and Business, Media, ,
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Dave Schuler says:

    What the moguls may have overlooked is that these developments would radically lower — indeed, essentially eliminate — barriers to entry and therefore provide a fantastic amount of competition.

    If only the new entries were actually providing competition! They aren’t. Unfortunately, today’s newspapers with their reduced number of reporters and nearly complete lack of overseas reporting aren’t even true substitutes for the newspapers of days gone by.