Archive for the 'News' Category

A Green Econony

There is always the factors of gas prices and pollution. And then there is the wide spread knowledge that we need to find alternative fuels and stop polluting the planet. But by becoming environmentally friendly we can lower the unemployment rate, become more efficient and productive, we can invest in new technologies, and oil prices can be changed. Moving forward, these will all prove to, and have already proved, to have a positive impact on this nations economy.

An short excerpt from a research paper for the Advanced Placement Economics class.

Newspapers

Introduction
Today newspapers are struggling. They are struggling to adapt. The are struggling to make money through advertising. They are struggling on taking advantage of the internet. And possibly most important, They are struggling to engage and interact with their readers.

This is an article on how to fix these problems. How newspapers can change, be revived and re-created.

Custom Newspapers
Through an online system subscribers choose what kind of content they would like in their newspapers. Papers are printed specifically for one person and RIFD tags allow them to be sorted to be delivered. In the cities, people can choose which newspaper box they will pick their custom newspaper up at.

Newspapers will also include major headlines so that people can read more about them online. In addition articles and stories that friends have recently enjoyed could be published in your custom newspaper.

Advertisements can also be customized and geared towards a persons interests. Thus allowing for many more options for advertisers.

Obviously, this would be a major re-creation of the infrastructure for newspaper companies but it is possible and in the long run will pay for itself. This saves cost on paper and ink by only printing stories that people want to read.

Participation
People can submit news stories, photos, and videos online. People will then be able to vote on them and the highest ranking stories will be published in the paper or promoted on the website. This will allow for people to become more involved in the process and newspaper industry.

Digital Media
Newspapers should start and continue to publish digital content online. Videos, podcasts, photos and interactive stories are very important and are an added bonus for the newspaper subscribers. Social networking can be built into the newspaper sites as well, allowing friends to share content.

We have already seen newspapers take classifieds, stocks and other information out of newspapers and put it online. This will continue due to the money being saved.

Conclusion
There is a certain essence and feeling of picking up a newspaper and reading it, and this is something that I would not like to see go away. But keep in mind that this news delivered on paper must be accompanied by digital media, user participation and new advertising techniques.

For more articles on the future of newspapers check out the link below.
Del.icio.us Newspaper Bookmarks

To all the newspapers out there, I wish you the best of luck on your journey to revive and re-create the newspaper.

(This ideas are the intellectual property of Ethan Bodnar. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2007 Ethan Bodnar.)