Don’t Confuse Newspapers’ Evolution With Their Demise

Much has been made about the death of the newspaper — and with good cause.  Detroit’s hometown newspapers are trying to wrench a daily print newspaper from our ink-stained fingers, while others across the country are either filing Chapter 11 or simply closing the chapter on their publication.  I would like to offer another perspective.  Perhaps newspapers are simply evolving.  The first stage of evolution is always a cry of extinction.  The death knell for shoulder pads rung more than a decade ago, yet they are reappearing in a slightly different form, heaven help us.  I believe, in time, we will look back at the auto industry and note the same phenomenon.  As online forums begin to increase in influence and instruments like the Sony Reader and the Kindle begin to ignite the interest of the reading public, myself included, we may find that the news is alive and well… just without the paper.