I believe in Evolution

The Internet is killing newspapers. Journalists are up in arms and wondering what in the world they will do. Researchers are pondering the future of the media, and computer geeks are creating doom and gloom scenarios like Epic 2015.

Newspapers are dying and journalists are scrambling. Ah, the signs of progress. Instead of fearing this change, we should embrace it, prepare for it and dominate the new technology. After all, we as journalists are the experts. We should be the front-runners in this new world of media.

Our audiences haven't changed. Our numbers haven't diminished. They've just gone elsewhere. Let's take a customer service approach. Let's not wait for our consumers to come to us, let's go to them.

It really may not even be that hard. A recent study, "The State of the News Media 2004, showed that the heaviest online users spend the most time reading newspapers. So maybe we're all up in arms about nothing. Maybe the Internet is not the real enemy. Maybe it's something else.

This chart shows how many minutes online users read newspapers. Source: The State of the News Media 2004

There is no denying, however, that the online world feeds off of traditional news sources. The same report showed that only 32 percent of stories on the Web sites studied were actually written by the Web staff. Most were wire stories, or wire stories with some edits. Forty-two percent of stories, however, were posted with absolutely no edits. It seems as though Internet Web sites are not content producers but content scavengers.

This chart shows the source of news stories on several different Web sites. Source: The State of the News Media 2004

Newspapers and wire services are feeding the Online world, and its time that newspapers take back their ground. Newspapers need to come in and dominate the online world. They should pour more into their online budgets. They should make their Web sites interactive and engaging. Newspapers have the talent and the know how to take back what it has lost in the print world.

It's time we start teaching evolution. We need to teach journalists to evolve to higher plain. Its survival of the fittest, and if newspapers want to survive they are going to have to embrace change or become extinct.