EGM is done, no more 1up show either

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: EGM is done, no more 1up show either

Man this sucks.

[Cebby]

Re: EGM is done, no more 1up show either

Yes, but until newspapers start figuring out how to make money off the Internet, then I fear, there's going to be a lack of quality information in the next decade.

I hear people say, "I get my news from blogs." Well, hate to burst your bubble, but where do you think 99% of bloggers get their information? NEWSPAPERS and NEWSPAPER WEBSITES!

That and CNN, Fox, bbc, reuters, and a variety of other news sources that actually caught on early instead of going with horrible websites.

I agree that the newspaper industry was ignorant to the fact that the Internet was changing the shape of information in our country, but that doesn't mean that newspapers aren't a viable source of information or that they will be going away for good.

Newspapers will go away for good eventually. Within the next 5 years, you'll probably be able to get a full newspaper on a Blackberry. At that point, print media will be dead for good.

[Brian Gee]

Re: EGM is done, no more 1up show either

Newspapers aren't going anywhere for a while. Eventually, yes, but there are generations who aren't jumping into technology and even my father (who's 55) will never switch up the newspaper for the net. I think in our lifetime we may see it, but it'll be with a generation behind us...

[DJ]

Re: EGM is done, no more 1up show either

That and CNN, Fox, bbc, reuters, and a variety of other news sources that actually caught on early instead of going with horrible websites.



Newspapers will go away for good eventually. Within the next 5 years, you'll probably be able to get a full newspaper on a Blackberry. At that point, print media will be dead for good.

Who would pay for this? W/O print, will the advertisers support online-only? I doubt it.

Sure, you can go to the big name sites for national news, but if you want localized content, where will you get it if all the local papers are gone?

[Cebby]

Re: EGM is done, no more 1up show either

Who would pay for this? W/O print, will the advertisers support online-only? I doubt it.

I think they would. If you can reach a much larger audience, you go with that. Print will be dead in a few years.

but if you want localized content, where will you get it if all the local papers are gone?

Local online papers.

[FedEx227]

Re: EGM is done, no more 1up show either

Do people really wanted to be huddled over looking at a screen all times of the day?

Wake up. Eat breakfast next to your laptop, go to the bathroom looking at your laptop. Get to work, go stare at a computer screen.

Optometrist rejoice.

There is something special about print media. I can say for one, the level of reading done through print media is MUCH different than that done through online. Online you tend to be more centralized in what you want. If I want sports, I go to a certain site ESPN.com for example and that's it. That's all.

With print media you're more inclined to check out other sections Business, Around Town, etc.

I think it's a terrible mistake we're letting print media die in favor of blogs and online newspapers.

[jmood88]

Re: EGM is done, no more 1up show either

Do people really wanted to be huddled over looking at a screen all times of the day?

Wake up. Eat breakfast next to your laptop, go to the bathroom looking at your laptop. Get to work, go stare at a computer screen.

Optometrist rejoice.

There is something special about print media. I can say for one, the level of reading done through print media is MUCH different than that done through online. Online you tend to be more centralized in what you want. If I want sports, I go to a certain site ESPN.com for example and that's it. That's all.

With print media you're more inclined to check out other sections Business, Around Town, etc.

I think it's a terrible mistake we're letting print media die in favor of blogs and online newspapers.

I'm still not understanding what your problem is and why you think that even if print goes away, that people somehow aren't going to read the same things. The reading behavior of some people is different now because we still have physical things to read but if all everyone was used to was digital reading then they wouldn't have a problem reading books on their laptop or kindle.

[mgoblue]

Re: EGM is done, no more 1up show either

I'm still not understanding what your problem is and why you think that even if print goes away, that people somehow aren't going to read the same things. The reading behavior of some people is different now because we still have physical things to read but if all everyone was used to was digital reading then they wouldn't have a problem reading books on their laptop or kindle.

They're working on great electronic "paper", I think that'll eventually be what replaces "print" media. I do agree that it just is nice to have a book in your hand, and laptops etc hurt the eyes for reading. The Kindle is a great start (from what I hear) because it's not hard on the eyes. Until there's a feasible and inexpensive (relatively) substitute for paper we'll always have print, but if they can come out with something electronic that's holdable and readable it'd be great.

[Cebby]

Re: EGM is done, no more 1up show either

Wake up. Eat breakfast next to your laptop, go to the bathroom looking at your laptop. Get to work, go stare at a computer screen.

That's pretty much been what every person under 30 that I've ever met does. The only people I know who read newspapers are people who take the free ones that schools give out.

The only exception is the bathroom part, but I'm not a female who doesn't poop for 3 days. The vast majority of the time, I'm in and out of the bathroom in a minute or two, and I've always found the reading thing weird. I don't know, maybe some people are just bad at pooping.

Online you tend to be more centralized in what you want.

People reading what they want to read? The horror, the horror.

I read for about an hour and a half a day during the week and two to three hours a day on the weekend. I read what I'm interested in.

I'm not sure how a person who normally reads the sports and business section and then have an article about Brad and Angelina catch his eye in the style section is really the magical event that you want it to be.

I think it's a terrible mistake we're letting print media die in favor of blogs and online newspapers.

Did you think it was a terrible mistake when we let the horse drawn carriage, oil lamp, wood burning oven, serialized radio programs, and typewriter industries die?

Most people tend not to since they were replaced with far better alternatives. When you can have thousands of news papers at your finger tip for free, why would you want a physical paper?

[ChubbyBanana]

Re: EGM is done, no more 1up show either

Did you think it was a terrible mistake when we let the horse drawn carriage, oil lamp, wood burning oven, serialized radio programs, and typewriter industries die?

Serialized Radio Programs were pretty bad *** in back in the day Cebby...

[Cebby]

Re: EGM is done, no more 1up show either

Serialized Radio Programs were pretty bad *** in back in the day Cebby...

But now we have TV. It's like serialized radio but with boobies and explosions...

Unless you don't like boobies and explosions.

[ChubbyBanana]

Re: EGM is done, no more 1up show either

But now we have TV. It's like serialized radio but with boobies and explosions...

Unless you don't like boobies and explosions.

I see your point...

But with Serialized radio it seemed more sensual, with them describing the boobies and explosions with great detail....

[ChaseB]

Re: EGM is done, no more 1up show either

I don't think it is as simple as saying "it's like the horse and buggy so good riddance."

I also don't mean to say that if print media "dies" -- I don't think it will ever actually die completely either -- that people will become idiots and read less and less. We are simply in an age of brevity, I think everyone now realizes that. People who want to still read in-depth/intelligent pieces will be able to find them somewhere either way.

But, it's also not as simple as saying, "newspapers did not catch on in time" or any of that stuff. In The Atlantic there is a story about how the NY Times may go under, which regardless of how you feel about print media, would be a shame.

On VentureBeat, they discussed journalism moving forward -- VentureBeat is a good example of how journalism will prevail either way, just Internet journalism will be more specialized. There won't be a NY Times, there will be a NY Times for one thing, and another NY Times equivalent for another type of writing. Is that a bad thing? I would say no, but it does raise issues within the whole advertising-industrial complex. Advertisers and publications will have to work out new ways to co-exist again so both sides can continue the way things were, or maybe a whole new cycle will have to be created.

Returning to my point, though, VB discussed how a property like the NY Times has not been slow to get with the Internet, they are just being given unfair expectations.

"The New York Times has done an excellent job of growing its web property. ComScore says the company’s pageviews are approaching 200 million a month; that’s a lot for any website. Other newspapers have also done well, just not nearly well enough. In fact, “well enough” might be impossible in current conditions. Newspapers are being asked to multiply their audiences many times over, not just shift to a new medium."

The other point is that: "Most people, including internet journalists, agree that print is the last bastion of the educated essay and the investigative article. ... Missing from all the prescriptions we’ve seen for reviving good journalism on the web is an explanation of how it will pay for itself. Getting a New York Times-caliber feature article requires paying a Times-caliber writer for a week or more of research and writing. That will set you back between $1,000 and $10,000, depending on who is doing the work. That figure doesn’t include the editing and expenses, by the way.

For most sites, that means they need 100,000 to a million pageviews to break even, for a single article. These economics serve to explain why web writers get paid considerably less. Of course, workers who are paid less tend not to perform as well. It’s a vicious circle."

So that's why I don't think there should be such cut-and-dry reasoning from either side of the print media argument. I think it is bad that journalists in general are cared about less and less, because they are a main weapon against politicians for example -- even if sometimes they are asleep behind the wheel during times of crisis. I would argue, in fact, that a journalist is the best weapon against corrupt politics because regular people simply do not have time to devote to discovering the "bad people." And that is really just one example of why a journalist is important.

--------------------------------------

On the subject itself, it sucks that almost 40 people got canned because of Ziff's incompetence over the years. Ziff had the best group of game enthusiasts among the big-time sites and pissed it away over the years. Now talented writers are suffering for corporate incompetence.

[Cebby]

Re: EGM is done, no more 1up show either

I am completely shocked that journalists would feel that journalists are undervalued.

I would argue, in fact, that a journalist is the best weapon against corrupt politics because regular people simply do not have time to devote to discovering the "bad people."

I disagree. The internet has evened the field considerably. Just look at college football if nothing else. Every major event of the 2000s has broken on the internet before the "sports journalists" could get in on them.

With the internet, it just takes one person who knows somebody who knows somebody.

Nobody is stopping these "educated essay" writers from writing. It's just nobody cares, especially not to the tune of $10,000 a week.

[Jonesy]

Re: EGM is done, no more 1up show either

While you make great points Cebby and I agree that the newspaper is probably a dieing medium there is still something nice about kicking back reading the paper with a cup of joe on a saturday morning that a laptop simply cannot provided imo.

When it comes to video game magazines you can see the obvious problems they would have when the age bracket is so computer savvy that they always get beaten to the headlines etc. Even when they do have breaking stories people just scan it and put it on the net for people to see for free anyway.