What's Killing the Newspaper and Who Will Save It?

Almost ironically, we read in the newspapers every week that their industry is in crisis.  Newspapers across the country are shuttering overseas bureaus, offering buyouts to dozens (even hundreds) of talented journalists, and in the process imperiling their capacity to serve as vital watchdogs over our constitutional system.  How did we end up in a situation where a newspaper like The Washington Post, a fountainhead of Watergate and so much other skeptical and investigative reporting critical to our republic's health, is in serious jeopardy?  From this predicament a heated debate is underway about the future of journalism--is the answer subscription fees from digital age users and advertisers, philanthropic support through endowments, increased revenues through online advertisers, or some sort of a hybrid?

A panel of industry experts - including Steve Coll, staff writer at the New Yorker, Edward Felsenthal, Managing Editor of The Daily Beast, and Dick Tofel, General Manager at Pro Publica - joined us on March 12th to discuss the answers to these questions and more.

Watch the full video above and view Flyp Media's coverage of the event.

New America supporter Bevis Longstreth spoke recently on this topic at Columbia University. Read his remarks here (pdf).

See map: Google Maps

Participants

Featured Speakers:

Steve Coll
President, New America Foundation
Staff Writer, The New Yorker

Edward Felsenthal
Executive Editor, The Daily Beast

John Thornton
General Partner, Austin Ventures

Dick Tofel
General Manager, Pro Publica
author, Would You Pay to Read This Story?, The Daily Beast
author, How Newspapers Once Survived Near Death, The Daily Beast

Tim Wu
Fellow, New America Foundation

Moderated by:

Andres Martinez
Director, Bernard L. Schwartz Fellows Program, New America Foundation
Former Editorial Page Editor, Los Angeles Times