The Christian Science Monitor recently announced that it was ceasing its print edition and going to a web-only edition. Its circulation had fallen from several million to around 500,000. Despite its religious affiliation, it was -- er, is -- a good newspaper -- er, news web site. For me it was always a go-to paper for international news.
There's lots of hand-wringing and deer-in-headlights looks from journos about such a great newspaper doing the dirty and going all digital. What's the problem?
Did we freak out when we switched from hot type to cold type? From letterpress to offset? When Newsday went tab? It's the same stuff, just delivered differently. Yes, it's less portable, but with the hyperlinking ability of the web and virtually endless storage capacity, a lot is gained as well.
I am proud of the Monitor for having the cojones to make the leap. Who will be next? It's not going to be lemmings going over a cliff. It will be smart people following each other out of a dark room.
Bob Bohle
bob@newsdesignschool.com
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