Part of the response is disdain – any place like the internet that includes scam letters from Nigerians can’t be taken seriously – and then there’s the fear of the unknown added into the final loss of control. People refuse to pay for things online that they can find elsewhere for free – like news, so the traditional media (whether it uses newsprint or a TV tower) doesn’t know how to make money here.

Neither does the record industry and bands are discovering that they may actually make more using their own viral marketing schemes. Deep down, I think the older media people are afraid they are this generation’s buggy and carriage makers guild, facing the automobile chugging up over the hill into view. The reality is that the car has already passed by the newsroom and the TV station on it’s way into the future without them.

Newspapers are dying, it certainly seems so. But at the same time, music CDs are dying. I believe these are related in a way in two ways:

1. Industry representatives for both blame the situation on consumers who are said to be ‘unwilling to pay for quality content’ thieves and/or ignorant.

2. Unknown to the representatives, consumers are consuming as much as ever.

The music industry has failed because the music they market basically sucks. It’s utter tripe. It’s become completely corporatized, to the point that almost all radio stations in the US are owned by a very small group, with ClearChannel being the majority owner of vast stretches american airwaves. When not playing commercials round the clock, these stations push homogenized low quality product of little intrinsic worth and containing no local or international content.

As a result, people have turned off the broadcast radio and turned to things like the iTunes store, XMRadio and internet stations because there you have a choice, and there you can find a wide variety of high quality content.

In short, ClearChannel and the RIAA members tried to create a monopoly where they could force consumers to accept a low quality product. In return, consumers found alternative outlets that suited their needs. As a result, Apple has done well financially selling a music on demand to consumers, in a variety that far surpasses the drek one hears on broadcast radio.

You knew it was coming and here it is. Newspapers are in the same boat. Papers have become consolidated. Good content is out, propaganda is in. Years ago I subscribed to the New York Times because it had fabulous content. But about a decade ago they stopped writing from an impartial viewpoint and started promoting various agendas. I was not surprised when they had scandals where their reporters were just making up stories and faking quotes, by the time that happened their newspaper, once the most prestigious one in america, had ceased to be relevant.

So much for corporate papers. There is also the smaller ones, which have failed for a different reason.

With a few exceptions, local papers do not have substantial real news coverage, and also do not address local issues. Papers become controlled by certain families or business interests in a community and then stop reporting on issues contrary to the agenda of those interests. It is obvious to the readers when this happens since one hears about a variety of scandals from people in the community, but the newspaper remains silent. An example of this would be that the San Diego Union does not report on any news critical of McDonalds corporation since Joan Kroc owned the newspaper. I’m sure you all can think of others.

I realize the market, which has been flooded for awhile, is self-regulating. Strong and innovative publications (with open-minded management) will adapt and survive. The others… it will likely be too late when they catch on. This “weeding out” was inevitable, couldn’t be avoided – but it is still depressing to watch some of these smaller community papers fade away without putting up a good fight.

The buggy-whip manufacturers all said that those horseless carriages would be our ruin. Even though it turns out that they were at least partially right, a) it is taking a lot longer than they ever imagined and 2) it doesn’t mean we should have drowned the automobile in a bathtub.

I don’t have a print media background, so this utter resistance to reality is very confusing to me. I guess I’m just one of the nitwits.