Thinking the Unthinkable
A brilliant and brutal obituary on why newspapers are no more. Make no mistake, they all saw the Internet tsunami coming, but were incapable of adjusting their fundamental worldview:
“When reality is labeled unthinkable, it creates a kind of sickness in an industry. Leadership becomes faith-based, while employees who have the temerity to suggest that what seems to be happening is in fact happening are herded into Innovation Departments, where they can be ignored en masse. This shunting aside of the realists in favor of the fabulists has different effects on different industries at different times. One of the effects on the newspapers is that many of their most passionate defenders are unable, even now, to plan for a world in which the industry they knew is visibly going away.”
This is fascinating. Certainly as this is the case, certain on line sources need to turn from commenting on the story to getting the story. I know it is wrenching for those in the business, but it is captivating to be on the sidelines.
Mrs. Blandings,
It is fascinating, but hardly unique. I come out of the television industry and witnessed the same thing happen to the major television networks with the onslaught of cable and the internet. Some years ago, I left that industry for a time only to return later and realize how antiquated the thinking continued to be. In their case, they lost excessive amounts of money and market share, but were pervasive enough to survive.