It may not be as contentious as Red v. Blue, Republicans v. Democrats, Roe v. Wade, or Yanks v. Bosox, but the pundits predicting the demise of paper as a news medium continue to prognosticate. Granted, media fragmentation and citizen journalism are rampant, and the rules are changing as a result, but there are valid arguments on both sides of the publishing equation. Recently, the editor of MIT’s Technology Review weighed in strongly on the side of digital, much to the chagrin of his Beantown neighbors at IDG, which he predicted, in five years, would have but one paper publication left of the couple hundred it now publishes. A recent study by the Carnegie Corporation also paints a bleak picture.
I, however, am inclined to agree with Paul Farhi and Tim Porter who believe digital and paper will thrive in peaceful (and profitable) co-existence. Now don’t ask me about the Dems and Republicans.