My slide rule is in my pocket protector
“What’s killing newspapers is the same thing that killed the slide rule.” That provocative statement is oversimplified and kind of a cheap shot, in an entertaining way, but Jack Shafer writing in Slate makes a very good point. Digital technology is decimating the need for some jobs, just as it is creating new jobs and making other changes we can only barely see coming over the horizon.
But it’s essential to notice Shafer’s careful choice of words – it’s newspapers that are dying, not journalism. The business model and the product proposition are what need to change, not the practice of collecting, analyzing and communicating news. Check out the New York Times’ Times Reader as one idea for going forward.
