I too have enjoyed the similarities between small town newspapers and blogs. Some others to add to the list:

- Community involvement

- Names of people. Explanation: bloggers link to other bloggers. Small town newspapers pride themselves in printing the names of the townfolk.

- Both rely on others to help provide content.

More than anything it is the emphasis on “local”. In blogging terms, “local” just means it is relevant to the community.

I too have enjoyed the similarities between small town newspapers and blogs. Some others to add to the list:

- Community involvement

- Names of people. Explanation: bloggers link to other bloggers. Small town newspapers pride themselves in printing the names of the townfolk.

- Both rely on others to help provide content.

More than anything it is the emphasis on “local”. In blogging terms, “local” just means it is relevant to the community.

The internet has had some very predictable impacts.

1. Amazon was the poster child of bad thinking. It tried to create brand loyalty by price. it’s failure and subsequent purchase by B&N - a brick and mortar company- demonstrated that price has no loyalty. It is now just another on line retailer, with no more brand loyalty than say B&N or Overstock.

2. Newspapers have for the last 100 years or so been supported by predatory advertising rates. The internet created a tool for shopping by price without any significant advertising budget. Advertisers pulled ads, Craig’s list stole their most profitable ad revenues, the classified. Newspapers in the 80′s and 90′s lost their focus. Like Amazon they saw their mission as to make sales, not deliver the news. Many newspapers evolved into warappers for adverttising. To survive newspapers must consolidate their offerings and do it MUCH better. “All the news that’s fit to print” is a big project. To do that newspapers will need to consolidate and syndicate. In that say 5 major publishers of financial news, sports, Politics, local and regional will syndicate to all others, and I am not talking API but real news and analysis. Example: it will not be by individuals like say Garrison Keeler who should be syndicated, but by SWAT Teams of special focus highly skilled.

3 The democratization of information via blogs and social networks has a very insipid effect. The volume is increasing, with every one wanting to publish. The problem is the quality of information; the quality of presentation and the depth of contained content are all decreasing. Not just the newspapers are turning to pablum but the on-line blogs as well.

In the past our encyclopedias’ content was validated and verified, for space and sheer volume and subsequent cost of printing and shipping, much was left out, but they remained an authority. Wikipedia is free and a democratized encyclopedia. It is inconsistent in writing style, even within a single topic. The quality of authorship is pedestrian and it is rife with personalities and opinion.

We are learning to live with a democratic world of information, where the overload is mostly redundant; a repeat of what others say in a different form, and most often poorly written and frequently the gems are lost in the tsunami of ill conceived opinion. The need for authority and expertise is greater today than it was in say 1990. Newspapers and publishers - blogs and online information will eventually figure it out and some create emporiums of expertise concisely written, in clear thought and decent form rather than swamps of words.

Others will go swimming in the swamp.

The internet has had some very predictable impacts.

1. Amazon was the poster child of bad thinking. It tried to create brand loyalty by price. it’s failure and subsequent purchase by B&N - a brick and mortar company- demonstrated that price has no loyalty. It is now just another on line retailer, with no more brand loyalty than say B&N or Overstock.

2. Newspapers have for the last 100 years or so been supported by predatory advertising rates. The internet created a tool for shopping by price without any significant advertising budget. Advertisers pulled ads, Craig’s list stole their most profitable ad revenues, the classified. Newspapers in the 80′s and 90′s lost their focus. Like Amazon they saw their mission as to make sales, not deliver the news. Many newspapers evolved into warappers for adverttising. To survive newspapers must consolidate their offerings and do it MUCH better. “All the news that’s fit to print” is a big project. To do that newspapers will need to consolidate and syndicate. In that say 5 major publishers of financial news, sports, Politics, local and regional will syndicate to all others, and I am not talking API but real news and analysis. Example: it will not be by individuals like say Garrison Keeler who should be syndicated, but by SWAT Teams of special focus highly skilled.

3 The democratization of information via blogs and social networks has a very insipid effect. The volume is increasing, with every one wanting to publish. The problem is the quality of information; the quality of presentation and the depth of contained content are all decreasing. Not just the newspapers are turning to pablum but the on-line blogs as well.

In the past our encyclopedias’ content was validated and verified, for space and sheer volume and subsequent cost of printing and shipping, much was left out, but they remained an authority. Wikipedia is free and a democratized encyclopedia. It is inconsistent in writing style, even within a single topic. The quality of authorship is pedestrian and it is rife with personalities and opinion.

We are learning to live with a democratic world of information, where the overload is mostly redundant; a repeat of what others say in a different form, and most often poorly written and frequently the gems are lost in the tsunami of ill conceived opinion. The need for authority and expertise is greater today than it was in say 1990. Newspapers and publishers - blogs and online information will eventually figure it out and some create emporiums of expertise concisely written, in clear thought and decent form rather than swamps of words.

Others will go swimming in the swamp.