Over in Invisible inkling, Ryan has 10 10 obvious things about the future of newspapers. He's got a pretty good batting average, but some of them are just off the mark. His ten (click the link for the full commentary -- it's worth it):

1. It’s not Google’s fault. 
2. It’s not Craig’s fault. 
3. Your major metro newspaper could probably use some staff cuts.
4. It’s time to stop handwringing and start training.
5. You don’t get to charge people for archives and you certainly don’t want to charge people for daily news content.
6. Reporters need to do more than write. The new world calls for a new skillset, and you and Mr. Notebook need to make some new friends, like Mr. Microphone and Mr. Point & Shoot.
7. Bloggers aren’t an uneducated lynch mob unconcerned by facts.
8. You ignore new delivery systems at your own peril.
9. J-schools can either play a critical role in training the next generation of journalists, or they can fade into irrelevancy.
10. Okay, here comes the big one: THE GLASS IS HALF FULL.

First, let's be honest -- the economic underpinning of journalism is being undermined by Google and Craigslist, and has been for some time. We can argue if this was inevitable or not, but it's a fact. Maybe the mainstream media could have moved more quickly, but that's a different argument.

Second, the idea that reporters need to do more than write is like saying programmers need to do more than code -- both are true, and more or less completely  irrelevant to what is happening in media. In this case, anyone working with news needs to be able to effectively tell and illustrate a story -- but having sat through some interviews with reporters filming/recording/taping an interview, I'll say that there has to be a beter way.

Third, the idea that there is sufficient advertising dollars for newspapers to only focus on local news is ludicrous, and just why do you think the NYT or ESPN or CNN are immune from the "don't blames" above?

Finally, Ryan is 100 percent correct that the glass is half full and that there is good work going on, but he should probably note that unless points 1 and 2 have a corresponding answer, the ability to fund point 10 is a very open issue.

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