I've been attending these events since the mid 1990s, and use them to gauge how the industry is progressing. Last week's conference in New Orleans was, as usual, instructive. I sensed movement forward and enthusiasm within the industry, but overall continued to see evidence that most newspapers are not investing sufficiently to make big Internet plays. The huge market valuations of the leading pure Internet companies remain a pipe dream for most newspaper companies, as they continue to hold back from making serious investments in new-media ventures. The newspaper industry's movement still tends to be conservative and deliberate.
Progress is slow and steady, as publishers move their Internet operations toward profitability.
It's only a select few newspaper companies making the bold moves that eventually might create big Internet plays. The kids don't care Several key themes came to my mind after attending Interactive Newspapers. The first was brought home by an excellent conference session where Boston University communications school dean Brent Baker quizzed about 10 college students on their media usage habits. First, we learned that this generation uses the Internet on a daily basis and has little need for the printed newspaper. That's no surprise, of course.