iPad will not save journalism

There’s buzz circulating the Internets that Apple’s new iPad tablet could come to the rescue of the publishing and journalism industries. I don’t think so. At least for the journalism piece of the argument. We might see a bit of a Reader’s Renaissance in terms of e-books sold through iTunes. And that might help a slumping book market. As for journalism, we need to keep our eye on the ball. Traditional news outlets aren’t necessarily suffering from competition from news sites. They’re suffering for lack of product.

Back in say, oh, I dunno, 1996, we gladly paid 50 cents for the daily paper. Why? That paper, along with the TV evening news were the primary sources of information for American consumers. Right around that time, all the news publishers of the world began publishing their stuff online. The result of all that material within the reach of the masses began the decline in journalism. We began to see news publishers of all sizes vying to compete with the big boys. The drive to provide national and international coverage on the Podunk Times’ Web site.

Today, most newspaper-based Web sites don’t need to offer big headlines. Consumers are inundated with headlines announcing earthquakes and health care and the like. It’s the local guy making a go of raising grain-fed cattle or the high school now teaching sustainablity that needs local coverage. Local papers with local Web sites need to focus their resources on local stuff.

That’s not the only issue behind journalism’s decline. Look at TV or mass-market newspapers and magazines. Journalism is losing out to reporting. How many local anchors stumble over the words on their cue cards? I  make jokes about Connecticut TV affiliates’ propensity to take national events and localize them. But that’s what folks need to hear to connect with the news.

I’m seriously over-simplifying, but I think you get my point. Until journalists understand their markets and investigate news and issues most pertinent to their audiences, the First Amendment is just words. The iPad might generate a new cohort of readers, but it can’t save journalism.