Why newspapers have failed

I by no means profess to know much about the newspaper industry.  I read newspapers both online, and yes, in print, but that's about it.  When it comes to analysis on the newspaper industry, I leave it up to the experts such as Ken Doctor who writes his analysis in the Outsell Insights daily newsletter. 

I recently came across an article in the Columbia Journalism Review by Walter Pincus who writes for the Washington Post.  His article - Newspaper Narcissism, Our pursuit of glory led us away from readers - is a very good read.

Some interesting facts from the article:

• An average reader spends 25 minutes reading the print newspaper
• There are 110 million daily readers of print newspapers

• Consumers of online news generally read between 10AM and 4:30PM.  Hmm, don't we all have a job to do?  Pincus' point is that consumers who read online generally only have time to read headlines. 

I didn't take away from this article that Pincus was some old guy complaining that it is not like it used to be but rather that the industry has taken the wrong approach over the past few decades.  It is worth the time to read this article if you are interested in a good retrospective look at the newspaper industry.