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By Chris Meadows

randyc Randy Cassingham, the compiler of the weekly “This is True” humorous-news e-mail newsletter, has posted an entry in his blog nominally about "The Future of Newspapers". Despite the title, the post is actually more about Randy’s past in on-line-news discussion forums, and how many of the other forum participants were not as perceptive as Randy when it came to the on-line future of news. Randy also calls out the news industry for pandering to “hysteria” over such events as Janet Jackson’s infamous Superbowl “wardrobe malfunction”.

However, there is an interesting discussion going on in the comments as readers, too, express their dissatisfaction with the state of the news reporting industry today. Rampant bias and news stories written more to entertain than inform are the targets of commenters’ ire.

The newspaper industry should pay attention to these comments. If they seriously expect people to pay for the news stories they provide, they should get their houses in order and provide news that actually is worth paying for. There will always be plenty of free competition.

 
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