Editor & Publisher: API Hosting ‘Crisis Summit’ for Newspaper Industry. The American Press Institute (API) will host an invitation-only, closed-door “summit conference” Nov. 13 in which 50 CEO-level executives will ponder ways to revive the newspaper business.
The newspaper industry’s big issue is pretty simple. It’s trying to move from a monopoly position into a competitive marketplace. That’s incredibly hard even for the best-run companies, but with a very few exceptions newspaper companies are not being run by the best and brightest or anyone even close to that.
The American Press Institute is one of most reactionary bodies on the planet when it comes to understanding how media are changing, or at least doing something useful to help make a painful business transition. A closed-door “omigod-it’s-a-crisis” meeting is the perfect example of how the API continues to miss the point of open media in an open society.
on Nov 12th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
“continues to miss the point of open media in an open society.”
Huh? The point is to have only public meetings so bloggers can take snarky cheap shots at people and sell ads against the eyeballs? Or that The A-Listers Weren’t Invited, which of course is prime evidence of Not Getting It, since they have a divine right to a piece of any action?
How much can be expected to come out of any such meeting anyway?
on Nov 13th, 2008 at 12:22 am
What an odd coincidence — it was a week before your appointment to ASU a year ago that Steve Buttry of the API came to campus to discuss the Newspaper Next project. Tim McGuire of the Cronkite faculty attended, and was pleasantly surprised… though a bit disappointed by the turnout:
You can take a quantum of solace in the fact that as long as there are newspapers, there’ll be newspaper conferences.
on Nov 13th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
> “Or that The A-Listers Weren’t Invited…”
Hey! who turned out the lights?