Public Interest

By: Anya KamenetzWed Dec 19, 2007 at 8:19 AM

A modest proposal to save the newspaper trade.

For younger news junkies like me, reared on participatory online media, what makes the public-radio model most appealing is its acknowledged reliance on "people like you." Listener support empowers it to strive to be a primary source of quality news, something no one else in American radio is even attempting in the age of Clear Channel. Stern acknowledges that listener trust provides the "halo effect" that motivates corporate sponsors. "I think truthfully there is a huge advantage to not being bottom-line driven, especially in a cramped media space where everybody's under revenue and ad pressure," he says.

Continues Stern: "I'm happy to be the CEO of NPR. I can't think of a media organization I'd rather be in charge of at this time." Can the folks at The New York Times say the same? Who knows--they declined any interviews for this piece.

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Comments from the Fast Company Connection, a reader panel

This is a long-overdue solution. The local paper in my community has changed three times in four years, all to "generate business" and keep its dwindling customer base. With this proposal, newspapers have the opportunity to maintain high-quality, objective, and unrelenting coverage.

Brandon Tidwell
Memphis, Tennessee
FedEx Services

I get most of my news on the Web. In an age where everyone with a cell-phone camera and an uplink is the reporter on the scene, newspapers will never again be the news.

Randy Hurst
Maryville, Tennessee
Prosystems

The biggest reason newsprint media will stay afloat is they still have "real" journalists who have the backing to do the in-depth analysis that is missing from so many media outlets. Good old-fashioned muckraking--that's what the newspaper industry needs to do.

Scott Everts
Fort Smith, Arkansas
Whirlpool Corp.

I enjoy The New York Times. I love the articles, the ads, and my Times magazine and book review. Why change that?

Connie Piecuch
Lawrenceville, Georgia
Sonoco Paperboard Specialties