Should Newspapers Focus On........News?

It is a much discussed topic with staunch believers on both sides, no this is not a review of Richard Dawkin's latest addition to religious theory, although you may be forgiven for feeling that a certain amount of fundamental following occurs for this issue as well!  I am talking about the steady decline of print journalism. 

I was listening to this weeks Guardian Media Talk podcast and it seemed almost entirely devoted to the troubles that lie ahead for newspapers.  I have to say that The Guardian is one of the only papers that seems to get stronger as each digital day dawns.  This aside it seems that print journalism may be doomed. 

The rise of online journalism through news sites, blogging, independent journalism (Nowpublic) and of course word of mouth news through social media has meant people get their daily dose of info in a totally different way and in fact, some would say, better way.

Is there a price issue involved?  Well one of the interesting points raised during the podcast was that free papers such as the London Lite or London Paper are enjoying ever increasing readership. It is evident that even the hard nosed capitalist right winger will have a quick gander at the gossip sections or the sport of these papers.

I may be alone here, however I have noticed a distinct lack of papers, other than the Metro (another freebie), on my daily commute into the city.  In fact people of all ages are using their shiny new iPods, Blackberrys and other media devices to keep them up to date on current affairs and essentially entertained.

This raises another issue, are the papers losing money because they are expanding their market too far, in the attempt to cast their nets far and wide. Jeff Jarvis, a prominent media blogger, believes that newspapers should focus less on website building and effectively outsource this aspect of media to those that do it better, such as Google. It may be that if newspapers outsourced this work they could devote their sole attention to doing what they do best, report cutting edge news with superb comment thrown in for good measure.

I still have warm fuzzy feelings for newspapers, there is something wholesome and obviously tangible about picking up a paper and having a good read.  That said it's been months since I bought one.