How The Telegraph Was Supposed To Kill The Newspaper Business

from the yeah,-so-that-didn't-happen dept

It seems like the old telegraph system is suddenly getting lots of new attention. A few weeks back, we wrote about some lessons from the old telegraph system that could be enlightening in the net neutrality debate. And, now, James Gattuso points us to a fun read over at The Economist about how people freaked out that the telegraph was going to kill newspapers. There was concern about how this device would lead to destroying quality reporting, getting people to focus more on the quick hits, and that there would be less reason to do "real" reporting -- leading to more annoying opinion writing, rather than actual journalism. Sound familiar? Of course, it didn't work out that way:

What lessons does the telegraph hold for newspapers now grappling with the internet? The telegraph was first seen as a threat to papers, but was then co-opted and turned to their advantage. "The telegraph helped contribute to the emergence of the modern newspaper," says Ford Risley, head of the journalism department at Penn State University. "People began to expect the latest news, and a newspaper could not succeed if it was not timely."

Today, papers are doing their best to co-opt the internet. They have launched online editions, set up blogs and encouraged dialogue with readers. Like the telegraph, the internet has changed the style of reporting and forced papers to be more timely and accurate, and politicians to be more consistent. Again there is talk of news being commoditised and of the need to focus on analysis and opinion, or on a narrow subject area. And again there are predictions of the death of the newspaper, with hand-wringing about the implications for democracy if fewer publications exist to challenge those in authority or expose wrongdoing.

The internet may kill newspapers; but it is not clear if that matters. For society, what matters is that people should have access to news, not that it should be delivered through any particular medium; and, for the consumer, the faster it travels, the better. The telegraph hastened the speed at which news was disseminated. So does the internet. Those in the news business use the new technology at every stage of newsgathering and distribution. A move to electronic distribution--through PCs, mobile phones and e-readers--has started. It seems likely only to accelerate.

Filed Under: journalism, newspapers, predictions, telegraph

The Telegraph And Natural Monopolies In Communications

from the how-do-you-deal-with-them? dept

A bunch of folks have sent in Matthew Lasar's excellent look back at some of the early days of the telegraph system and how it parallels some questions that we face today over things like net neutrality. The basic story is that Western Union worked out a way to gain a monopoly on the telegraph, and then worked out a deal with the Associated Press, whereby all AP papers would use Western Union, and none would support the creation of a competing telegraph company. From all of this, there is even the suggestion that a presidential election was stolen. It's a worthwhile read.

Of course, the parallels are not perfect, and there are lots of other questions to be raised, but there are some good points to think about, when you're dealing with a communications system that is, effectively, a natural monopoly. As the FCC suddenly seems open to the concept of line sharing again, after being down on it for so many years, it's at least worth looking at the history on things like the telegraph, to understand why competition really is a good thing, especially when it comes to the major means of communication.

Filed Under: history, natural monopolies, telegraph
Companies: western union