How Newspapers Responded To The Internet Threat

from the some-better-than-others dept

An interesting interview with a Harvard professor who looked at how newspapers responded to the disruptive technology threat that the internet represented. Unlike most disruptive innovations, newspapers quickly realized that the internet was a threat - so it made for an interesting study. However, just because they saw the threat doesn't mean they responded well. In many cases, they just jumped into the internet, but kept the business structured similar to the way a newspaper did business - and thus missed out on some of the unique qualities of the internet. While a few newspapers have been more successful than others, many are simply pulling back from the internet now, thinking either the threat is gone, or that there's no market there. The professor points out that there's a huge market there (he mentions how much Monster.com made in classifieds), but newspapers are ignoring it. So, even if a company realizes there's a disruptive technology coming along that affects their business, it doesn't mean they will respond well to it.