A lot of things were supposed to kill newspapers in the 20th century. There was radio, then TV, then the internet. Somehow newspapers have survived, in one form or another. But it’s still interesting to take a look at the predictions that people of yesterday had for how the news business would change. Like this comic…
In addition to flooding social media with false news stories, propaganda-spreading bots, and all sorts of online chicanery during the 2016 US presidential campaign, Russian trolls also reportedly attempted to erode Americans’ trust in local news by posing as city newspapers.
Facebook has been under fire in India following a string of lynchings that appeared to have been prompted by false news spread on WhatsApp. It’s become such an epidemic that the Indian government has demanded something be done. For now, Facebook’s solution involves running ads in local newspapers explaining how to…
Exactly 63 years ago today, the Melbourne Argus became the first newspaper to print in full color. The Argus wrote, “Here’s a picture that makes news–and newspaper history, too.” And as noted in a State Victoria Library post, “The front page banner was printed in garish alternate blue and red block letters, which…
Newspaper writers always joke about how their industry is all about selling dead trees. Well, one artist decided to flip that around, making dead trees emerge from newspapers.
Newspaper flashback: Here's a look at Guardian profile of Christopher Lee that was published 43 years ago today. Back then, Lee's career was only just starting. Who knew it would still be going strong now? And that he'd be a metal Christmas carol singing badass? [Read a digital except here]
Each generation seems to think that it's the first to imagine radical change in the newspaper industry. The predictions of futuristic robot editors? They date back to at least 1968. Tablet news? At least 1994. Printing the news by radio right in your home? 1934.
It was on this day in 1939 that Great Britain declared War on Germany, a momentous decision that was reached just two days after the invasion of Poland. Here's a sampling of the newspaper headlines and news reels that greeted the world on that fateful day.
Rupert Murdoch must be feeling nostalgic: Reporters in The Times UK's newsroom are working under a constant soundtrack of (artificial) typewriter clatter. It's an experiment to "increase energy levels," and for a generation of reporters who grew up on word processors, it's probably torture.
Readers of the Memphis Commercial Appeal found a strangely out-of-place paragraph in an article about business zoning regulations: A 350-plus word status update apparently intended for the Facebook page of the newspaper's copy editor. At least she alerted us that it'd be long.
"What for example could be staler than to-morrow morning's newspaper account of a prize-fight or political convention one has already received over the radio?" wrote one commentator in 1928. Radio was overtaking print as the news medium of the day and some people insisted that newspapers were going to disappear…
Otto A. Silha, was a pretty forward-thinking guy — especially in an industry that we think of today as tremendously resistant to change. Silha was the publisher of the Minneapolis Star and Tribune newspapers, and he was known for embracing new technologies in the publishing business. He was enthusiastic about…
I print nearly everything: Boarding passes, itineraries, and all the online papers that I use for research to write this blog. I know this makes me a weirdo — these things don't "need" to be converted to paper form. But believe it or not, I'm living much closer to the paper-filled future that was imagined for most of…
In its quest to develop cheaper products people might be more inclined to buy, The New York Times is launching yet another bite-size subscription, NYT Opinion. For $1.50 a week, you'll get access to just the opinion section, columnists and a few related extras.
Los Angeles is a big place—400 square miles, 88 separate cities—and it's rare that what constitutes news in one corner even applies to another. For the first time in its history, the Los Angeles Times is recognizing this fact with an ambitious redesign that allows readers to zero in on what's happening down the street.
If you've ever read the newspaper in a library or a coffee shop, you've probably used those long wooden holders that help make them slightly easier to wrangle without tearing the pages and impossible to pilfer. But an ad agency in Switzerland found a way to make them even more useful with invisible LED news tickers…
Next week, the struggling New York Times will launch a new app with content tailored for a "mobile audience." Called NYT Now, it'll cost $8 per month for non-subscribers. Additionally, a new Times Premiere plan with more content will cost (!) $45 per month—without print. Both seem a little pricey for what they are,…
Is it beyond the bounds of reason, in view of our recent progress, to imagine that the day is coming when, by touching a button on some convenient part of our anatomy, we may get in tune with a central wireless, typeless, inkless, pulpless, paperless, newsless distributing agency that will telepathically convey to us…
The internet has all but replaced traditional print media as most people's primary news source, with newspapers and magazines across the country either scrambling to adapt or slowly being crushed by the wheels of technological advancement.
The New York Times already gave us a preview of its brighter, cleaner, and all around more beautiful website earlier this year. But starting tomorrow, the redesign will be here to stay. And to celebrate, the New York Times is showing off just how customizable (and GIF-able) it's new homepage will be.
