Wednesday, April 18, 2007

The Golden Age of Newspapers?

Conventional wisdom says that the newspaper business is dead or dying. Yet Boston now has three daily papers (the Globe, the Herald, and the free Metro); this morning, 'vendors' were also distributing a new freebie: Vol 1, Issue 2 of "BostonNOW."

(Once upon a time, Boston was the home of multiple papers, a few of which are listed here.)

Unlike Metro, which generally relies on AP and wire reports with a few local columnists, NOW appears to have local correspondents as well and (perhaps) intends to break news. Today's cover story in NOW is a by-lined piece on "Crime on the T", although NOW also has items from, among other the Christian Science Monitor, State House News Service, and some articles that are uncredited. The NOW website also appears to be part of an on-line/off-line 'synergy' strategy.

While I wouldn't (and don't) bet against Warren Buffett's view of the newspaper business, somebody out there thinks that there's money to be made in ol' fish wrap, yet.

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