Wires grow as newpapers die

Or so The Economist argues. Can newswires like AP, Reuters, AFP and Bloomberg survive the decline of the print industry?

High wires
Feb 12th 2009
From The Economist print edition

With newspapers in crisis, newswires may learn to live without them

WHERE does news come from? The answer, much of the time, is from newswires. Many of the stories in newspapers, on television, radio and online are based on dispatches filed by the big news agencies. The biggest international newswires, Associated Press (AP) and Reuters, date back to the expansion of the telegraph in the mid-19th century, when rapid newsgathering first became possible. The agencies have usually been wholesalers of news; newspapers, broadcasters and websites act as retailers, repackaging and selling news to consumers alongside material generated in-house. MORE

Microsoft exec on solutions to cuts in newspapers

An interesting read - it is a strong attack on Google, but does raise some good points on how the media industry can save itself from oblivion:

Microsoft exec maps out online strategy for media
Interesting speech on the online future of media by the Chief Counsel for Intellectual Property Strategy at Microsoft on a day when the Associated Press became the latest US media organization to announce job cuts.

Thomas C. Rubin: UK Association of Online Publishers
Prepared Remarks by Thomas C. Rubin, Chief Counsel for Intellectual Property Strategy, Microsoft Corp.
“The Change We Need”
UK Association of Online Publishers
London, England
Nov. 20, 2008

TOM RUBIN: Thank you for that kind introduction, and thank you for inviting me to speak at this important conference focused on creating vibrant business models for publishers online.
It was a sad day last month when we read that after 100 years the Christian Science Monitor will cease print publication next April. The Monitor is an esteemed newspaper with particularly distinguished international coverage. It was the first American newspaper to get a reporter behind the lines with the anti-Soviet resistance in Afghanistan in 1979. And during its long history, it has nurtured generations of young foreign correspondents, including Jill Carroll, who you may remember was held hostage in Iraq. MORE

Associated Press to 'cut 10 per cent of staff'

More cuts, now from the wires. Will Reuters, AFP, Bloomberg be next?

Us v Them, or rather, new v old media

Yup, the "fight", if you want to call it that, is still going on strong, as seen in the furore over the Associated Press taking issue with The Drudge Report. Good or bad move? What does it represent?

Here's some takes on it:

Associated Press takedown notice sets the net abuzz

Bloggers to AP: I got your feed right here

I don't understand why it has to be an Us V Them type scenario to be honest. In the end, news wires like AP are still, I believe the lifeblood of the news industry. Without them, news would be one unregulated mess. Maybe that's how the bloggers like it, I don't know. But I can't see how sifting through millions of blogs to get just a decent bit of information would be feasible as a newsgathering activity. Or, I could be wrong ...

But yes, AP is cutting back, and so is Reuters. So maybe one day it'll just be blogs eh?