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David Simon: Newspapers could emulate HBO and charge for content

8 points by rms 18y ago

gabrielroth 18y ago
David Simon: Very good at making television, not so great at coming up with business plans for newspapers. Seriously, if this idea were being proposed by anyone who didn't make 'The Wire,' I find it hard to imagine that Hacker News would find it worth our attention.
- _pius 18y ago
  Seriously, if this idea were being proposed by anyone who didn't make 'The Wire,' I find it hard to imagine that Hacker News would find it worth our attention. Yeah, but it was proposed by the creator of "The Wire," so here we are. :) David Simon was waaaaay out in front of this issue. Way back in 2006 he chose the demise of the newspaper industry as the theme of the final season of The Wire and covered it critically before the whole "Newspapers Are About to Die" meme was getting any traction outside journalism trade circles. That's not to say he's got all the answers, but the guy's certainly been thinking about the problem for quite some time and it's interesting to hear his perspective.
  - gyeh 18y ago
    The "Newspapers Are About to Die" message has been repeated over and over again since the mid 90's. Because of the recent high-profile closings/cost-cuttings of newspaper organizations, the last 15 years of gloomy prognostications have essentially become reality (mainly precipitated by the current economy). Similar to Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid and global warming, these are train-wrecks that can be seen miles and miles way. Unfortunately for newspapers, it seems they are in the middle of one.
    - eli 18y ago
      Yes, newspaper readership has been declining for some time, but ad revenues didn't really start to tank until the past few years (http://www.npr.org/blogs/globalpoolofmoney/images/2009/04/papers_big.png http://www.npr.org/blogs/globalpoolofmoney/images/2009/04/pa...)
brandnewlow 18y ago
Beware of reporters proposing business ideas.
- eli 18y ago
  They're as bad as the developers!
knightinblue 18y ago
part of the HBO model is you can’t sell crap. If it’s not the best out there, no one’s gonna put up money for it. This is exactly why the subscription model will fail. It's practically impossible for the newspapers, even the big ones, to constantly churn out material thats worth paying for. If subscriptions really do happen, a few people will just get subscriptions and put up their own versions of http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet/ http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet/ for the rest of the people by rewording, massaging and summarising news without any attribution whatsoever. It's a fallacy to think anyone can really control content delivery online. P.S. To be fair, the analogy is a slight bit off - not everything on HBO is worth paying for either. But the difference is that noone can rip off HBO shows while anyone can rip off the NYTimes. If there's a need for it.
boundlessdreamz 18y ago
Isn't this the exact business model of magazines like NewYorker and Economist?
- _pius 18y ago
  Yes.
eli 18y ago
It's getting to the point where proposing a new solution to the newspaper industry's problems is like posting a clever "new" solution to end spam. Odds are it's neither clever nor new. Someone needs to come up with a Final Ultimate Solution to the Newspaper Problem Response form based on http://www.claws-and-paws.com/fussp.html http://www.claws-and-paws.com/fussp.html

8 points by rms 18y ago

David Simon: Very good at making television, not so great at coming up with business plans for newspapers. Seriously, if this idea were being proposed by anyone who didn't make 'The Wire,' I find it hard to imagine that Hacker News would find it worth our attention.

_pius 18y ago
Seriously, if this idea were being proposed by anyone who didn't make 'The Wire,' I find it hard to imagine that Hacker News would find it worth our attention. Yeah, but it was proposed by the creator of "The Wire," so here we are. :) David Simon was waaaaay out in front of this issue. Way back in 2006 he chose the demise of the newspaper industry as the theme of the final season of The Wire and covered it critically before the whole "Newspapers Are About to Die" meme was getting any traction outside journalism trade circles. That's not to say he's got all the answers, but the guy's certainly been thinking about the problem for quite some time and it's interesting to hear his perspective.
- gyeh 18y ago
  The "Newspapers Are About to Die" message has been repeated over and over again since the mid 90's. Because of the recent high-profile closings/cost-cuttings of newspaper organizations, the last 15 years of gloomy prognostications have essentially become reality (mainly precipitated by the current economy). Similar to Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid and global warming, these are train-wrecks that can be seen miles and miles way. Unfortunately for newspapers, it seems they are in the middle of one.
  - eli 18y ago
    Yes, newspaper readership has been declining for some time, but ad revenues didn't really start to tank until the past few years (http://www.npr.org/blogs/globalpoolofmoney/images/2009/04/papers_big.png http://www.npr.org/blogs/globalpoolofmoney/images/2009/04/pa...)

brandnewlow 18y ago

Beware of reporters proposing business ideas.

eli 18y ago
They're as bad as the developers!

knightinblue 18y ago

part of the HBO model is you can’t sell crap. If it’s not the best out there, no one’s gonna put up money for it. This is exactly why the subscription model will fail. It's practically impossible for the newspapers, even the big ones, to constantly churn out material thats worth paying for. If subscriptions really do happen, a few people will just get subscriptions and put up their own versions of http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet/ http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet/ for the rest of the people by rewording, massaging and summarising news without any attribution whatsoever. It's a fallacy to think anyone can really control content delivery online. P.S. To be fair, the analogy is a slight bit off - not everything on HBO is worth paying for either. But the difference is that noone can rip off HBO shows while anyone can rip off the NYTimes. If there's a need for it.

boundlessdreamz 18y ago

Isn't this the exact business model of magazines like NewYorker and Economist?

_pius 18y ago
Yes.

eli 18y ago

It's getting to the point where proposing a new solution to the newspaper industry's problems is like posting a clever "new" solution to end spam. Odds are it's neither clever nor new. Someone needs to come up with a Final Ultimate Solution to the Newspaper Problem Response form based on http://www.claws-and-paws.com/fussp.html http://www.claws-and-paws.com/fussp.html