Breathing new life into an old profession

A lot of people believe Monday was a bellwether day for print journalism. Why? Because on Monday the second largest newspaper chain in the United States, Knight Ridder Inc., was sold.

Its price tag shows what the financial world's best and brightest think the future holds for the inky bundle that plops daily on America's doorsteps.

In a free market economy a sale like this is the closest thing there is to a report card. And like a D-student with a temperamental father, we in the newspaper business feared the worst.

The winning bid of $4.5 billion was made by McClatchy Co. The bid, said most, was low. McClatchy's promise to immediately sell off 12 of Knight Ridder's 32 daily newspapers a sign that more instability lies ahead.

Last year newspaper circulation in most major markets dropped by about three percent. This sale showed that those in the know believe the free fall has only just begun.

I find myself watching the events unfolding in the industry with more than a little bit of interest mixed with anxiety.

Here I am, 24 years old and being told at every turn that I'm joining a dying business; that the newspaperman two decades from now will be as necessary as today's wire operator at Western Union.

And, to a degree, I see the point. The days of waking up and opening a newspaper strictly to find out what happened the day before are flat out over. And the days of keeping a readership based solely on brand name loyalty aren't far behind.

In some people's eyes, the newspaper is a dinosaur. Its infrastructure is expensive, its delivery system is antiquated and, maybe worst of all, it asks for interest and effort from its readers.

So yes, I've heard all of the reasons why newspapers cannot continue to be profitable in the 21st century. I've had friends and relatives try to convince me that anything would be a better career path.

My response is simple: It's not just newspapers that are in transition. Technology is changing jobs all around us.

I don't care who you are or what you do for a living, if you think your job is not changing it has probably already zipped by you.

Technology has brought all of us cheek to jowl with what economists call "bad competitors." A bad competitor is someone who's willing to offer the same service, but at a much lower price. In fact a price you could not possibly match.

For instance, if you are a travel agent then Orbitz.com is your bad competitor.

If you run a classified section of a newspaper, then Craigslist.com is your bad competitor.

And if you are a software service provider, well, the entire nation of India is a very bad competitor for you.

In the world full of bad competitors if you don't make yourself indispensable you've probably made yourself irrelevant.

Wall Street seems to be betting that newspapers are the latter.

So we in the print media have two choices as far as I can tell. We can either hold on for dear life and stay stuck in our ways, or we can use the opportunity to get leaner, get tougher and get smarter.

And if we choose option No. 2 I think we'll find there has never been a more exciting time to be at a newspaper. Data and access are universally available; all the gatekeepers of information have been zapped. Everything is there for the taking.

So newspaper lovers hang on, it's gonna be a wild ride.

TJ Greaney is a reporter for the Southeast Missourian.