Quoted by Matt on May 4 2009:
When someone demands to know how we are going to replace newspapers, they are really demanding to be told that we are not living through a revolution. They are demanding to be told that old systems won’t break before new systems are in place. They are demanding to be told that ancient social bargains aren’t in peril, that core institutions will be spared, that new methods of spreading information will improve previous practice rather than upending it. They are demanding to be lied to. There are fewer and fewer people who can convincingly tell such a lie.
—
Clay Shirky in Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable [thx LD]
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7 comments so far
Killian 04 May 09
Works for the music industry as well viva la revolution!
Jay Owen 05 May 09
Newspapers are quickly becoming yesterday’s news (quite literally). The internet has revolutionized how we get news and as mobile technology continues to prevail, that will only continue to happen.
doppler 05 May 09
I dunno. Maybe the dailies are in peril. I look forward to Thursdays, when the free weekly paper Austin Chronicle hits the stands. I make sure to have lunch somewhere that I can pick up a copy and read it while I wait for my order, and while I eat. Those nerds using laptops are gonna get taco grease on their keyboards.
George St John 05 May 09
Newspapers will change into something else. We will simply still get the news delivered but not via paper.
andy 05 May 09
Life happens offline.
Anonymous Coward 05 May 09
That was a sweet piece.
Dex 07 May 09
Well, for someone like Clay Shirky, who uses the phrase “the Internet runs on love”, he must certainly know beyond a reasonable doubt that he knows what he’s pontificating about.
Or not.
Then again he could just be another fluffer like Tom Friedman, from the NYT
Personally, I’ll listen to someone like David Simon, who knows what he’s talking about.
Comments are closed