And They Will All Live Like Cartoonists: The US Economy And Comics, Post #41

* this report about a launch party for the Seattle P-I on-line effort is fascinating. Although there's a killer pull-quote in there about David Horsey's function at the gathering, the final analysis I think is pretty good, too. There's an opportunity for someone to become a place for localized digital content and the resulting ad interest in accompanying that content, but there are some doubts as to what will accomplish that task and if there will be enough money given the structure that results that will filter back to the people generating the content.

* I saw this link at Dirk Deppey's house, and I'm glad I got to see it. It's fun when people get all cut the Gordian Knot on issues like this: it's very entertaining. But I think this one's wrongheaded more than it gets to the heart of what's going on. The rhetoric depends on agreement and uniqueness. As to the first, a newspaper lover could build a list of elements flattering to that form and apply sarcasm and come up with a list disparaging on-line models. In fact, many did. It's not difficult. They weren't right, either, clearly. The progression of history tends to happen far away from snark on either side, and tends not to resemble it. As to the second, this isn't the first time newspapers or institutions like the newspaper have felt the brunt of another medium that other people like more. Saying they should all go away now is the same as saying comics books should blow because movies are preferred.

What fascinates me is that this is exactly the kind of argumentation that has power because of newspapers shifting to customer service-oriented features in the 1960s and 1970s. When newspapers decided to define themselves on their ability to present user-friendly information and features, they ran the risk of becoming outdated when other enterprises began to do that better. I think newspapers can find a level and a role the same way my town of 8500 people has two radio stations. I don't think we're going to see the destruction of the newspaper as much as the destruction of the daily newspaper as a rich, profitable, resource center with things like sports columnists that make low-six figures for writing two columns a week and the ability to hide completely unproductive and outright lazy staffers in their midst. That probably feels like the destruction of the newspapers, but that's because it's those people just described that have been allowed to set the terms for what constitutes survival. If newspapers can't find a new level, I think that's due to any number of factors including the way the model was primed for exploitation and its inability to recover from the set of lofty expectations ingrained over years of massive profitability, all much more than it being a clear referendum on the newspaper model itself.

* finally, Daryl Cagle's essay on the future of editorial cartooning is worth revisiting for the comments thread, including a note from a cartoonist that indicates that although she's local she won't be attending the NCS annual meeting this weekend because it costs too much. There's also a letter that's practically seething with the culture-war aspects of the Internet/Print battle, without quite spilling over: cartoonists given an opportunity on-line they weren't given in print that aren't sad to see print take it in the nuts.
 
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