The newspaper has already burst out of its inky paper pages. Simulations of the newspaper appear on the Internet. Wireless technology transmits bits and pieces of the newspaper to the tiny screens of cellphones and personal digital assistants. Even a generation ago, in many communities, anyone could call a free phone number and get the time and weather information, provided by the newspaper through an automated audiotext system.
Bigger changes lie ahead.
Expanding into non-print media, the newspaper confronts new rules, constraints and possibilities for how it presents information. A familiar consequence of the new rules can be seen on newspapers' Web pages. In contrast to the printed paper's Page One, the online front page often dilutes the importance of the two or three really important stories you might find there. Like any newspaper, The New York Times has to pay the bills. I wonder, though, whether the prominence of Internet home page advertising will have a long-term effect on readers' perceptions about the newspaper, online and off.