Are newspapers dead?

Everywhere you look there are articles (in newspapers), stories in the electronic media and discussions on talk shows about how newspapers are dead. My company is eager to work with newspapers to offer our BestHomePro Marketplace software (home search) to consumers. We therefore are very interested in the health of this medium that has supplied millions of people with high quality content for centuries.

CraigsList has been "killing" print media advertising -- Wow! Bloggers are everywhere and the best ones are becoming real authority figures on government, The Internet, communities, bicycles, autos, etc. etc, etc. What are newspapers to do?

I for one do not think newspapers need to die. They need to view the world through new lenses. Can bloggers assure our community or country that government, or huge lobbies or powerful corporations don't get away with corruption? Will bloggers cover all the stories of interest to all citizens or just their hot-buttons?

In Durham, NC, I still get The Herald-Sun Newspaper each day. Like most newspapers, it is smaller than it used to be. I also scan three or four others on-line, read blogs, get RSS feeds and follow 400 people on Twitter. But I still find scanning the entire newspaper while drinking my coffee each morning to be a good way to set the table for my curiousity and understanding of a wide range of things going-on all around the world.

People go to specific blogs to read about specific interests. But won't the world become miopic if people only see and read about their particular interests. What will happen to the "Renaissance Man" view of the world if you only read about Tarheel basketball, golf, Durham-based theater and "best local restaurants?"

Newspapers, providing top-quality content will remain viable if they stop just printing AP newswire stories in the local paper and if they provide in-depth stories of public interest. They need to continue providing breadth, balance and investigative value.

They can make money -- perhaps not with the classified ads of old, but through leveraging their traffic in print and particulary through the web. Most newspapers now have 3 to 5 times the traffic on the web as they do in print.

Citizens need to value solid content and the news media needs to be sure they provide the quality that will continue to attract readership. I hope they do.