Jeff Jarvis on the future of newspapers and journalism

Several others have posted about the sharp drop in newspaper revenue. Venture capitalist Tim Oren speculates about the slower online growth rate at his Due Diligence blog:

In the most forgiving interpretation, online ads on newspaper sites turn out to be a leading indicator of economic softness. ...

A second possibility is an impact from diminishing effectiveness of ads. ...

The third and worst possibility - not entirely independent from the second - is that the market for newspapers online is becoming saturated.

(Read the whole post for details.)

He recommends the comments at BuzzMachine.

Earlier this week, Jeff Jarvis of BuzzMachine posted some quick thoughts on the New Yorker piece:

It’s also the beginning of a discussion about the resurrected debate between Walter Lippman and John Dewey almost a century ago over the proper role of the press, objectivity, viewpoint, and discussion in a democracy. The piece doesn’t advance that discussion greatly but I wouldn’t expect it to, given the venue. What it does, instead, is advance The New Yorker’s view of media....

Jarvis also linked to an Aug. 7, 2006 New Yorker article by Nicholas Lemann: Amateur Hour: Journalism without journalists and to Jarvis's (long and interesting) response. Here's a taste:

I would have hoped for something more expansive, imaginative, open, creative, generous, constructive, strategic, and hopeful from the head of one of America’s leading journalism schools — from, indeed, the man hired to bring that school into the future — and from a leading light of American reporting.