Newspapers RIP? Not really.

Duncan Mcleod from the Financial Mail wrote this doom ‘n gloom piece on the end of newspapers. It’s actually one of the better pieces I’ve read on this rather emotive and fashionable subject.

He says: “Newspapers are facing the greatest threat in their 400-year history. The rise of the Internet as a publishing medium is undermining, and could ultimately destroy, print as a news medium. Is that such a bad thing?”

I don’t think newspapers will ever die, at least in the foreseeable future. What will happen is that they will adjust to market conditions: this will mean that cover prices will rise dramatically and their audiences will fall dramatically, that is they will be an expensive niche (which is still a good business model). That would be the response to the changing market conditions Duncan refers to in his piece. But I don’t think however it will lead to the newspaper market disappearing altogether.