Culture

Jeff Jarvis Tells the Newspaper Biz the Truth: 'You Blew It'

by Truemorist | April 7, 2009 at 03:23 pm

292 views | 16 Recommendations | 2 comments

Not one to be thrown off by the irksome and carbuncular ramblings of the presently ireful Associated Press, esteemed new media blogger, author, and commentator Jeff Jarvis stepped up to the plate today and delivered a swift, decisive blow to the solar plexus of the ailing newspaper industry.

The message was clear, direct, and easily summed up in three easy-to-remember words: You blew it.

Someone had to come out and say it as simply as this. The internet and bloggers alike should be glad to have Jarvis in their corner.

He's one of the few who's willing to tell it like it is — and place the onus for innovation, squarely and fairly, on those old media moguls who have ever-so-self-righteously squandered such an incredibly opportunity to lead the news media toward a rightfully bright and successful future.

Herewith, then, is an excerpt from Jarvis' wonderfully-penned, suggested speech to the Newspaper Association of America:

Well, gentlemen - and that's pretty much all I see before me: angry, old, white men - you have no right to anger. Instead, you are the proper objects of anger. The public should be angry with you for the poor stewardship you have exercised over the press and its service to society. Your journalists are angry at you for losing their jobs. Your pressmen and drivers and classified-ad takers are angry at you for the same reason (and at the journalists for paying attention only to their own plight). Your advertisers were angry at you for using your monopolistic power to overcharge them and for providing inefficient platforms and bad service for so long. But they're not angry anymore because they left you for better advertising vehicles and better prices in a competitive marketplace.

But you're the ones who are acting angry.

Yesterday, you delivered a foot-stomping little hissy fit over Google and aggregators. How dare they link to you and not pay you? Oh, I so want Eric Schmidt to tell you today that you're getting your wish and that Google will no longer link to you. Beware what you wish for. You'd lose a third of your traffic overnight. If other aggregators (I work with one) and bloggers (I am one) and Facebook all decided to follow suit, you’d lose half your traffic.

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Pakesh (not verified)

at 16:23 on April 8th, 2009

I agee

pawn2king4

at 08:16 on April 9th, 2009

Printed news has had its day. But I do worry about what will replace it. Internet rumours? State (or worse, terrorist) sponsored media? Both seem like pretty terrible options.