"Black & White and Dead All Over" makes a strong statement about how the struggles of the newspaper industry are perceived among members of the newspaper reporting community. And it's true that the nation's depth of experienced reporting has been significantly reduced by the incursion of Internet alternatives for advertisers -- both classified and display. But, the documentary does not bother to dig down into alternative paths that are being pursued to "save" the newspaper business, which has transformed into a multi-platform, multimedia news and information business in the last 15 years or so year.
BWDAO, on the other hand, identifies a few villains -- hedge funds in particular - and tries to lay the blame at their doorstep.
Hedge funds do not make good stewards for a community-service-oriented industry like newspapers. But, in fact, there are group-owned newspapers, and even a few independent newspapers and non-profit newspapers, that are also struggling. So, the larger question is whether the American public is willing to bear the cost, through subscriptions fees, to obtain professionally retrieved and assembled news and information after getting it for a few pennies from an advertising-supported news industry for more than a century and a half.
BWDAO sees the future as non-profit community news agencies, but most of the examples of that, to date, have been rich in their quality but limited in their scope. And no non-profit model has grown and prospered, without some sort of beneficent billionaire or cash-rich foundation to fund it.
This struggle for news industry solvency is a fascinating story with major social implications, but BWDAO tried to tell the tale by looking backward and documenting the lament for what may have been lost without exploring the initiatives that are underway to save this precious resource -- a nation full of paid, professional journalists who serve their communities.
BWDAO, on the other hand, identifies a few villains -- hedge funds in particular - and tries to lay the blame at their doorstep.
Hedge funds do not make good stewards for a community-service-oriented industry like newspapers. But, in fact, there are group-owned newspapers, and even a few independent newspapers and non-profit newspapers, that are also struggling. So, the larger question is whether the American public is willing to bear the cost, through subscriptions fees, to obtain professionally retrieved and assembled news and information after getting it for a few pennies from an advertising-supported news industry for more than a century and a half.
BWDAO sees the future as non-profit community news agencies, but most of the examples of that, to date, have been rich in their quality but limited in their scope. And no non-profit model has grown and prospered, without some sort of beneficent billionaire or cash-rich foundation to fund it.
This struggle for news industry solvency is a fascinating story with major social implications, but BWDAO tried to tell the tale by looking backward and documenting the lament for what may have been lost without exploring the initiatives that are underway to save this precious resource -- a nation full of paid, professional journalists who serve their communities.