Riches to Rags: the Newspaper Evolution

There's a lot of buzz about the demise of the newspaper industry and the loss of our national watchdog. In this information age the mediums for transmission are evolving with the technology and tangible collections are getting left behind. However, proliferation of information is now more important than ever before and the digital interface hasn't found a way to completely absorb the rags without a few snags along the way.

Many publications have gone digital, providing their readers with direct access to stories and current updates. Readers love the quick, easy, and free access, but the loss of sales and ad revenue has reaped havoc on many of the publications glossy counterparts. Some publications have been started and reside only on the net. The Huffington Post and Slate are two such sites that have flourished on the internet, with readership growing everyday. Is this the next wave of news media? It seems so. But how will these sites be funded? How will journalism change? How has it changed already? I'm posing these questions in hopes of starting a dialogue. Comment and check back for additional comments from me and other blog followers.

I will follow this entry up in a week or so and share some of my personal views on the evolution of news media.